Pete Buttigieg zoomed out on Saturday on the controversy surrounding Donald Trump’s teardown of the East Wing of the White House, saying he’s not as concerned about historic preservation as he is about Americans suffering the effects of historic price hikes for health insurance, all while Trump builds a ballroom to party with his billionaire fans.

“What’s most wrong about what President Trump is doing to the White House grounds is, it shows that his focus is on building a bigger venue for fancy dinners, when, because of his actual policies, Americans are opening those letters and finding out this week that they’re not going to be able to afford their healthcare next year.”

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“My focus right now isn’t about historic preservation,” he told CNN. “It’s about what’s going on in people’s lives.”

The president’s timing couldn’t be worse, Buttigieg said.

Both the demolition and premium hikes come during an extended government shutdown that Trump and Republicans don’t seem anxious to end. Hundreds of thousands of federal workers, including air traffic controllers, TSA agents, and military personnel, are working without pay, while thousands more have been furloughed or fired by the president.

Democrats and the GOP are in a standoff over extending Biden-era subsidies to keep Obamacare premiums low.

“How in the world could you be focused on building a new ballroom — a literally gilded ballroom for fancy parties for your rich friends — at the exact moment when working Americans, actually disproportionately working Americans, who voted for you, are getting screwed by your healthcare policy, and you don’t seem to be interested in helping them,” Buttigieg asserted.

Politicians and preservationists alike have denounced Trump‘s unilateral destruction of the East Wing, and the grandiose and growing plans to replace it with a Roman-style temple rumored to be named after the president himself. Trump called that gossip “fake news” over the weekend.

Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), another possible candidate along with Buttigieg to succeed Trump in 2028, trolled the president on Sunday over plans for the enormous edifice honoring his ego — at 90,000 square feet, the neoclassical building is almost double the size of the White House footprint.

Asked on NBC News’ Meet the Press whether his party should tear down the ballroom if they get the chance, the Democrat responded, “No. I think to really mess with him, just name it the Barack Obama ballroom,” Gallego said.

Some past administration officials have said a larger venue for state dinners and similar functions isn’t a bad idea on its face, but Trump’s execution — unilateral and in poor taste — has undermined a worthy objective.

News of plans for “guest suites” for Trump‘s billionaire friends in the new addition has only added to charges of influence-peddling associated with the $300 million building, said to be paid for by those same deep-pocketed Trump supporters and business associates.

Buttigieg’s take: “Most of the people who are getting these letters about their healthcare premiums are never going to be invited to dinner at the White House. He’s not there for them.”

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