Donald Trump's Flashy Purchase Forecasts His Ego Isn't Getting Smaller In 2026

The dawn of a new year is typically the time when people take stock of their lives and resolve to improve themselves in one way or another. We don't know whether the president made any resolutions, but if he did, it wasn't to cut down on his spending or his vanity projects. (Maybe he vowed to put more lettuce on his Big Macs instead.)

Donald Trump proved once again that his ego knows no bounds just two days into 2026. He and his security entourage were spotted on an outing to Arc Stone & Tile, a local Florida wholesaler, where a White House official confirmed (per USA Today and other outlets), Trump purchased onyx and marble "at his own expense." The stones will be used for the in-progress White House Ballroom, which Trump has actually admitted he's building as his own monument.

The president is no stranger to the stone business. According to the Arc Stone & Tile website, it has provided the stonework for numerous Trump properties, including the Trump Winery in Virginia, and the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C. (now under new ownership as a Waldorf Astoria). Arc's biggest project by far was installing the elaborate Italian marble floor of the Mar-a-Lago ballroom, but it will easily top that achievement if it's supplying the flooring for the presidential party space. Samantha Waldenberg of CNN reported on X (formerly Twitter) that the White House has declined to reveal "the price and quantity of what they said the president purchased." But considering that specialty marble can run about $50 per square foot, and the ballroom will be an estimated 90,000 square feet, you can do the math.

The news of Donald Trump's shopping spree on flooring was met with a considerable lack of enthusiasm from social media users who are still waiting for that promised Golden Age to kick in. "Nice that he can afford marble and onyx," opined one X user. "I may have to drop my health insurance and buying groceries has become a major expense."

Others were skeptical about the claim that Trump would foot the bill due to the fact that it won't even be completed until his term has finished, which means he may never visit it for himself. Referencing the divisive real estate mogul's past troubles with previous construction projects, a snarker wrote on X, "I hope Arc Stone insists on payment up front. The President has a long history of stiffing his contractors." At the same time, Trump fans continued to cheer his vision and praise his decision to pay for the marble and onyx himself.

The massive ballroom seems destined to move along to the president's timetable and specifications, and if Trump's controversial Rose Garden renovation is any indication, it will look a lot like the gilded entertainment center of Mar-a-Lago. But the bigger issue is the memories that will be made there. Think about Barron Trump, who couldn't hide his boredom at the president's New Year's Eve party. He may have been in a fancy space, but that didn't change the fact that he was stuck listening to Vanilla Ice with his parents. How fondly will future White House guests recall their time in the marble-encrusted Trump Ballroom?