During my short stay in Abu-Dhabi I was fortunate to visit a huge1 , outrageous, and rather beautiful (in its excess), building. It is the Qasr al Watan, UAE’s presidential palace, reserved for official functions: it is a working palace, completed in 2017.
After being driven across acres of lawn – itself an indulgence in the desert city – and after crossing two sets of outer walls, the palace more or less reveals itself (more or less because, needless to say, commoners approach from the side, not through the main gates).
Inside, the palace is an air-conditioned extravaganza of marble, gilt, huge spaces and domes – reminiscent of St.Peter’s in Rome2 or Versailles Palace (oh yes, the West has its own outrageous and oddly attractive buildings!).
In May 2025, Donald Trump was received in this palace.
On 31st July, six weeks after his visit, Trump announces a large (9 000m2) gilded ballroom as an addition to the White House. In mid-October he demolishes a wing of the White House to make room for his $200 million project.
I wonder where Trump got the idea from?
Any similarities between Trump’s extravagant gilded ballroom and UAE’s extravagant gilded working palace are fortuitous and unintended.
Any suggestion that Trump’s is smaller than the Emir’s will be vehemently denied…
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1 134 000 m2
2 Whilst St.Peter’s dome is 42m in diameter (and 136 m high), Qasr al Watan’s is a very respectable 37m diameter (and 60m high).
Richard Shearmur 