> You think they're too dumb to understand the difference between "tearing down" and "renovating"?

Are you? You think the East Wing is being "renovated"?

Renovation is renewal, repair, restoring function and safety.

What's happening instead? Knocking the safe and functional East Wing flat (walls, roof, both floors, 30+ internal rooms) and replacing it with a completely new structure with new foundations and a different purpose... and with a new footprint larger than the entire White House of 2024!

Nowhere even remotely close to the same thing. Might as well brag that you "repaired" your sedan by selling it and buying a new truck.