Biden calls – Speaking at a Democratic gala in Hanover, Maryland, President Joe Biden called Donald Trump “a loser,” attacking a string of Trump-linked moves in Washington—including a White House renovation plan, court-ordered removal of Trump’s name from the John F. Kenned
Joe Biden didn’t ease into it.
On Saturday, at a keynote address in Hanover, Maryland, he went straight for Donald Trump—calling him “a loser” and rolling through a list of projects and decisions he says show incompetence, vanity, and corruption.
He delivered the remarks while speaking at a gala hosted by the state’s Democratic party. which is working to wrest control of Congress away from Trump and his Republican allies during November’s midterm elections. What began as a sharp attack on Trump’s efforts to reshape parts of Washington quickly turned into a wider indictment of what Biden described as dishonesty and political favoritism—right up to the administration’s response to people convicted in the violent attack at the US Capitol on 6 January 2021.
For Biden, the argument started in the White House. He referenced Trump’s demolition of the White House’s East Wing to make space for a ballroom. Biden also pointed to a court-ordered removal of Trump’s name after it was added to the facade of the John Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
Then came more plans, and more frustration: Biden cited Trump’s plans for a triumphal arch, and the algae bloom that undermined Trump’s $14.7m renovation of the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool.
When he recited the sequence, Biden let the insult land with the force of a punchline.
“Whoa!” Biden said while reciting all of that. “What a loser.”
But Biden didn’t stop at the buildings and the bills. “It’s not just his vanity projects” in the nation’s capital that, in Biden’s telling, are a disgrace. He said the administration has been seeking to compensate those convicted of—then presidentially pardoned for—roles in the violent attack at the US Capitol on 6 January 2021 after Trump’s first Oval Office term ended in defeat to Biden.
The reflecting pool project, though, became the centerpiece of his corruption argument. He said the federal government awarded a $1.7m no-bid, filtration system contract to a Trump donor who is a neighbor of the president’s Mar-a-Lago club in Florida.
“It reflects something even worse than the narcissism and incompetence at the core of this administration,” Biden said. He then pressed the accusation further, framing it as a break from any previous standard.
“It’s the corruption – the corruption, the brazen, blatant corruption,” Biden said. “Corruption on a scale never seen before in American history in any administration.”
He also widened the scope beyond domestic projects. Biden criticized Trump’s relationship with Vladimir Putin after Russian forces invaded Ukraine in 2022. He accused Trump of “deliberate distortion and destruction” of the Nato military alliance. which is widely seen as strained by the war that the US and Israel started in Iran in late February.
At 83, Biden said of Trump, 80, “He’s diminished our standing in the world more than any president in history has.”
The timing of the speech carried its own weight. Biden’s comments on Saturday came exactly two years after a disastrous televised debate with Trump—a persistent critic of him—that preceded Biden’s decision to drop out of running for re-election in the November 2024 presidential race. Trump then won a second White House term by defeating Biden’s endorsed candidate, Vice-President Kamala Harris.
Now. Biden’s attack also landed in a political moment where Trump’s family has been increasingly visible on the political scene after his departure from office. The speech came as former first lady Jill Biden published her memoir View from the East Wing on 2 June. She appeared at an event promoting the book that day and. among other things. said her husband’s cancer diagnosis. announced in May 2025. “really puts life into perspective”.
Biden’s comments also arrived while Hunter Biden continued to gain attention through self-deprecating social media posts covering topics such as politics. mental health and addiction recovery—a path that. Biden said earlier in his own career narrative. was perhaps unexpected when his father. in the waning days of his presidency. issued him a pardon for convictions on federal gun and tax charges.
Before Saturday’s gala, Biden had already signaled the tone he intended to strike. In a statement attributed to him ahead of the address. he said. “I’ve always believed democracy isn’t a spectator sport. ” before praising political organizers for “knocking on doors. making phone calls and putting in the time nobody sees but everyone benefits from”.
By the time he stepped into the center of that message. the gallery of grievances he assembled—East Wing demolition. court-ordered name removal at the John Kennedy Center. a proposed triumphal arch. the algae bloom derailing the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool renovation. and the broader claims about Capitol-attack pardons and international posture—was designed to leave one impression: that the stakes of November’s midterms aren’t only policy. but trust.
Joe Biden Donald Trump Hanover Maryland gala East Wing demolition John Kennedy Center Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool $14.7m renovation $1.7m no-bid contract Mar-a-Lago Jan. 6 2021 Vladimir Putin NATO midterm elections