Topline
The Trump administration on Thursday announced construction will begin in September on a $200 million ballroom at the White House that appears to be almost twice as big as the existing structure and will add an event space capable of seating 650 people.
A $200 million addition planned for the White House.
McCrery ArchitectsKey Facts
Called the White House State Ballroom, the addition will be approximately 90,000 total square feet, which is significantly larger than the 55,000-square-foot White House as it stands now.
Renderings show a massive building standing in place of the current East Wing, which serves as office space for the first lady and her staff, and connected to the main White House by an enclosed walkway.
Trump and his donors have said they will raise the funds necessary for the addition, which is expected to be completed “long before the end of President Trump’s term,” the White House said Thursday.
The White House called the ballroom a “much-needed and exquisite addition,” and renderings show a massive gilded space with coffered ceilings, chandeliers and floor-to-ceiling arched windows.
The ballroom will be separate from the main building of the White House but its “theme and architectural heritage will be almost identical,” the administration said.
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Key Background
Trump has been talking about building a ballroom at the White House for a decade. During a 2016 campaign event in Ohio, he said he offered to build a $100 million ballroom during the Obama administration but his offer never went anywhere. Trump in February, while signing executive orders, said he offered to build a ballroom for the White House similar to one at his Mar-a-Lago estate while Joe Biden was in office, but “never heard back.” He said then that he would be pursuing the project himself and then in May told NBC News he was going to build a “world-class beautiful ballroom,” which “they’ve wanted for probably a hundred years at the White House.” In June, he posted to Truth Social that he would be funding the construction of the space and said other presidents didn’t have the experience to complete such a project. “But I do, like maybe nobody else, and it will go up quickly, and be a wonderful addition, very much in keeping with the magnificent White House itself. These are the ‘fun’ projects I do while thinking about the World Economy, the United States, China, Russia, and lots of other Countries, places, and events.”
What We Don’t Know
What will happen to the current East Wing spaces. The modern-day East Wing was added to the White House in 1942 and holds the first lady’s office, the president’s theater, the visitor’s entrance and the East Colonnade. Visitors touring the White House enter through the east entrance and follow the East Colonnade to see rooms on the ground and state floors of the residence. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the offices of the first lady will be relocated during construction, but it’s not clear if they’ll be permanently moved or if a space will be built for them within the new addition. She also didn’t specify if the construction would impact the theater or visitor’s entrance.
Tangent
Trump has reportedly long taken issue with the fact that larger White House events often take place in tents on the South Lawn. David Axelrod, former senior adviser to former President Barack Obama, told NPR Trump said to him, “You know, you have these state dinners and you have them in these little tents” when offering to construct a new space. In 2016, while talking about his desire to build a ballroom, he said “having a tent is not that good.” Earlier this year, he said, “I think we’ve outgrown the tent stuff, right, don’t you think?” The tents erected for state events are large, walled structures with flooring and lighting. Obama hosted several state dinners in tents and Joe Biden held four of his six state dinners outdoors, NPR reported.
Can Trump Make Major Changes To The White House?
It’s unclear, but probably. Presidents have generally been allowed to make cosmetic changes to residential areas, and they receive a $100,000 budget for redecorating, but no recent president has tried to make a change on the scale of the one Trump announced. The White House has been renovated and added to before—a second story was added in the 1930s and the East Wing built in1942, for example—but the White House as a building was designated a historic site in 1960. As a National Heritage Site/National Historic Landmark in the care of the National Park Service, “extensive regulations would govern attempts to institute any significant changes,” according to the White House Historical Association. The National Register of Historic Places code of regulations says federal agencies wishing to start a project on landmark property must provide the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation a reasonable opportunity to comment, but then “may adopt any course of action it believes is appropriate.” The National Park Service website also implies that rule only applies when federal funds are being used, and the Trump administration has said it will raise private money for the project.
A rendering shows a proposed 90,000-square-foot addition to the White House.
McCrery Architects
A rendering shows the view of a proposed 90,000-square-foot addition from the existing White House.
McCrery Architects
A rendering shows a proposed 90,000-square-foot ballroom addition to the White House.
McCrery ArchitectsFurther Reading
The White House Announces White House Ballroom Construction to Begin (White House)
Why Trump is obsessed with building a White House ballroom (NPR)