Bill Maher has never shied away from controversy, and his latest critique targets President Donald Trump’s ambitious project that’s stirring up quite the conversation—not another social media endeavor, but a large-scale renovation. On the recent episode of Real Time with Bill Maher, the outspoken HBO host expressed his concerns about Trump’s $300 million plan to remodel the White House, interpreting it as an unsettling indication of Trump’s intent to hold power.

“The symbolism here is that he’s not planning on leaving,” Maher commented to his panel. “After all, who invests in constructing a giant ballroom if there’s an intention to move out?”

Earlier on the same day, workers began tearing down parts of the East Wing, an area traditionally used for welcoming guests and hosting official events. Trump claims the new 90,000-square-foot ballroom will be funded through private means, supported by himself, leading tech companies, and what he refers to as “many generous patriots.”

While Maher admitted that the development “bothers” him, the discussion became more intense when Michael Steele, the former chairman of the Republican National Committee, challenged Maher’s somewhat dismissive remark about the White House merely being “just a building.”

“What we’re witnessing is the dismantling of a symbol that represents this government,” Steele argued passionately. “It’s a symbol of our democracy and our diverse society.”

“You’re talking about the White House?” Maher shot back. “Oh, it’s a building, Mike.”

Steele disagreed. “Okay, Bill, it’s a building maybe to you, but to a lot of Americans it’s not,” he said, calling the White House his “childhood” as someone who grew up in Washington, D.C.

“I’m going to tell you as a young kid growing up in D.C., when my daddy took me by ‘that building,’ it meant something to me as a 10-year-old,” he recalled. “It meant something to me to grow up in a town where everybody in this country came and protested and cried and screamed and laughed… So that building, to me, was my childhood.”

Steele also slammed Trump for tearing down the East Wing “without accountability.” Maher admitted, “He should have gotten the permits, but that’s how he does things… I agree, but it is just a building, first of all.”

The host pointed out that past presidents have also made changes to the White House. “That part of the building wasn’t always there,” Maher noted. “Nixon put in a bowling alley. Obama made the tennis court a basketball court. I can’t get this mad about everything, Mike. I just can’t.”

Former Biden White House communications director Kate Bedingfield joined the debate, arguing that the East Wing demolition is part of a larger pattern.

“If this was the only impulsive, reckless, you know, driven by his own desire for self-aggrandizement… then I would give you it’s just a building,” she said. “But it’s not. It’s part of a manner of governing that is tearing at some of the foundations, the institutional foundations in this country. And that’s scary.”

Maher ultimately agreed that Trump’s actions — and attitude — go beyond architecture. “What could President Trump not do?” he asked. “He’s drunk with power.”

You can watch a clip of the panel’s “Overtime” segment above.