WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge on Thursday rejected a preservationist group’s request to block the Trump administration from continuing construction of a $400 million ballroom where it demolished the East Wing of the White House.
U.S. District Judge Richard Leon ruled that The National Trust for Historic Preservation was unlikely to succeed on the merits of its bid to temporarily halt President Donald Trump’s project.
Leon said the group has a better chance of success if it amended its lawsuit.
“Unfortunately, because both sides initially focused on the President’s constitutional authority to destruct and construct the East Wing of the White House, Plaintiff didn’t bring the necessary cause of action to test the statutory authority the President claims is the basis to do this construction project without the blessing of Congress and with private funds,” he wrote.
The White House, including the West Wing and construction of the new ballroom, is seen from the Old Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House campus Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Tom Brenner)
The White House and the West Wing is seen Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
The White House is viewed from the Old Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House campus Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Tom Brenner)
Work continues on the construction of the ballroom at the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026, in Washington, where the East Wing once stood. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
1 of 4
The White House, including the West Wing and construction of the new ballroom, is seen from the Old Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House campus Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Tom Brenner)
The privately funded group sued for an order pausing the ballroom project until it undergoes multiple independent reviews and wins approval from Congress.
The White House announced the ballroom project over the summer. By late October, the Republican president had demolished the East Wing to make way for a ballroom that he said will fit 999 people. The White House said private donations, including from Trump himself, would pay for the planned construction of a 90,000-square-foot (8,400-square-meter) ballroom.
Trump proceeded with the project before seeking input from a pair of federal review panels, the National Capital Planning Commission and the Commission of Fine Arts. Trump, a Republican, has stocked both commission with allies.
The U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, a panel made up of President Donald Trump’s appointees, on Thursday approved his proposal to build a ballroom larger than the White House itself where the East Wing once stood.The meeting was supposed to be on the design, with a final vote expected at next month’s session. But the chairman, Rodney Mims Cook Jr., made a motion to also vote on final approval, and six of the seven commissioners who were all installed by the Republican president since the start of the year voted in favor twice. One commissioner, James McCrery, did not vote because he was the initial architect on the project.“Our sitting president has actually designed a very beautiful structure,” Cook said before the voting. “The United States just should not be entertaining the world in tents.”Cook echoed one of Trump’s arguments for adding a ballroom to the White House: It would end the long-standing practice of erecting temporary structures that Trump calls tents on the South Lawn to host visiting dignitaries for state dinners and other functions.Cook said no other president had taken steps to correct that “until President Trump.”The project will be the subject of additional discussion by the National Capital Planning Commission in March.At the fine art’s commission’s January meeting, some commissioners questioned the lead architect about the “immense” design and scale of the project even as they broadly endorsed Trump’s vision for a ballroom roughly twice the size of the White House itself.Some changes suggested at that meeting were made and were welcomed by the commissioners on Thursday.Trump’s decision in October to demolish the East Wing prompted a public outcry when it began without the independent reviews, congressional approval and public comment that are typical even for relatively minor modifications to historic buildings in Washington.The National Trust for Historic Preservation has sued in federal court to halt construction of the ballroom. A court decision in the case is pending.The project is scheduled for additional discussion at a March 5 meeting of the National Capital Planning Commission, which is led by one of Trump’s top White House aides. The commission has jurisdiction over construction and major renovations to government buildings in the region.___This story has been corrected to reflect that the ballroom was approved by six of the seven commissioners and that one commissioner did not vote because he was the initial architect on the project.
WASHINGTON —
The U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, a panel made up of President Donald Trump’s appointees, on Thursday approved his proposal to build a ballroom larger than the White House itself where the East Wing once stood.
The meeting was supposed to be on the design, with a final vote expected at next month’s session. But the chairman, Rodney Mims Cook Jr., made a motion to also vote on final approval, and six of the seven commissioners who were all installed by the Republican president since the start of the year voted in favor twice. One commissioner, James McCrery, did not vote because he was the initial architect on the project.
“Our sitting president has actually designed a very beautiful structure,” Cook said before the voting. “The United States just should not be entertaining the world in tents.”
Cook echoed one of Trump’s arguments for adding a ballroom to the White House: It would end the long-standing practice of erecting temporary structures that Trump calls tents on the South Lawn to host visiting dignitaries for state dinners and other functions.
Cook said no other president had taken steps to correct that “until President Trump.”
The project will be the subject of additional discussion by the National Capital Planning Commission in March.
At the fine art’s commission’s January meeting, some commissioners questioned the lead architect about the “immense” design and scale of the project even as they broadly endorsed Trump’s vision for a ballroom roughly twice the size of the White House itself.
Some changes suggested at that meeting were made and were welcomed by the commissioners on Thursday.
Trump’s decision in October to demolish the East Wing prompted a public outcry when it began without the independent reviews, congressional approval and public comment that are typical even for relatively minor modifications to historic buildings in Washington.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation has sued in federal court to halt construction of the ballroom. A court decision in the case is pending.
The project is scheduled for additional discussion at a March 5 meeting of the National Capital Planning Commission, which is led by one of Trump’s top White House aides. The commission has jurisdiction over construction and major renovations to government buildings in the region.
___
This story has been corrected to reflect that the ballroom was approved by six of the seven commissioners and that one commissioner did not vote because he was the initial architect on the project.
The ballroom construction project at the White House seen from the top of the Washington Monument on November 17. Photo: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
Add Donald Trump’s architect to the list of people who are upset over the president’s plans to build a massive new White House ballroom that dwarfs the house itself. The Washington Post reports that Trump has argued with his handpicked classical-revival architect, James McCrery II, over the ballooning ballroom design:
[McCrery] has counseled restraint over concerns the planned 90,000-square-foot addition could dwarf the 55,000-square-foot mansion in violation of a general architectural rule: don’t build an addition that overshadows the main building. A White House official acknowledged the two have disagreed but would not say why or elaborate on the tensions, characterizing Trump and McCrery’s conversations about the ballroom as “constructive dialogue.”
But Trump will not be restrained, of course, and now says the ballroom will have an even larger capacity (1,000 people, up from 650) and cost more than $300 million, which is $100 million more than he originally announced:
Trump’s intense focus on the project and insistence on realizing his vision over the objections of his own hire, historic preservationists and others concerned by a lack of public input in the project reflect his singular belief in himself as a tastemaker and obsessive attention to details … Multiple administration officials have acknowledged that Trump has at times veered into micromanagement of the ballroom project, holding frequent meetings about its design and materials.
The Post adds that McCrery has kept his criticism private as he tries to deal with his megalomaniacal client’s revisions and keep the job. He is reportedly “worried that another architect would design an inferior building, according to a person with knowledge of his thinking.”
Though Democratscontinue to make as much noise as they can, there remains no indication that anyone will be able to stop Trump from building — and overshadowing — whatever he wants.
All of the living former presidents, along with their immediate family members, have made it pretty clear that they can’t stand Donald Trump. Some have tried to deal with this by avoiding Trump and largely refraining from commentary on his antics. But now, former First Ladies Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama, along with several former First Daughters, have confirmed what you probably already suspected: They aren’t big fans of Trump tearing down the East Wing to build a gilded White House ballroom.
Unsurprisingly, Hillary Clinton was the first to bash Trump’s extreme White House makeover. She posted this on X before the East Wing had been fully reduced to rubble:
Also unsurprising: Days later, she plugged “not his house” merch:
But as the East Wing was coming down, we heard from two First Daughters who are less vocal with their Trump criticism. First, Chelsea Clinton bashed Trump for “a wrecking ball to our heritage” in a USA Todayopinion piece:
The White House will always be a home I was lucky enough to live in for a while. Even more important, it is a mirror of our democracy, resilient when we honor its foundations but fragile when we take them for granted. What was dismantled today isn’t just marble or plaster; it is a reflection of how easily history can be erased when power forgets purpose.
A day later, Patti Davis, Ronald Reagan’s daughter, lamented the loss of the East Wing in the New York Times, calling the demolition “heartbreaking”:
Among certain jaded observers, there’s been a strain of chatter dismissing the damage, saying the East Wing was never all that architecturally distinguished. But it was not just a building made of brick and plaster; it was the people’s house, a building suffused with the spirit of the ideals that built it. It was a building that invited you to look beyond your own life, your own reality, to something bigger, a huge story we all inhabit. To stand in such a place makes you feel small, yet also larger than just yourself. It makes you aware of the continuum of history in a way that feels akin to sacredness.
… We silence so much when we tear down places that are there to teach us, inspire us, humble us. Ghosts and memories drift away in the dust, the wreckage, and we are all poorer as a result.
This week, even Jenna Bush Hager, the Today show co-host who rarely expresses any political opinions, made a crack about her former residence while interviewing Michelle Obama about her new book, The Look.
“As you know, the First Lady is a strange job,” Obama said. “There’s no guidebook, there’s barely a staff, now we don’t have a building.”
“I know,” Hager said, making a cringing face. “RIP, the East Wing.”
(Their comments start at the two-minute mark in the video below.)
Obama sharpened her criticism of the ballroom project as her press tour continued. During a Tuesday-night appearance on The Late Show, she quipped, “Remember that?” when host Stephen Colbert asked about the demolition.
She went on to describe the East Wing, which was traditionally the First Ladies’ domain, as the part of the White House where “life happened,” while the West Wing was “work.”
“It was an important distinction, because the West Wing team, they needed that break. You know, they needed to come to a place where they could be reminded of the reason we were doing this,” she explained.
Obama added that she’s “confused” about why Trump’s allowed to knock down a huge part of the White House while there were so many presidential norms her family tried to follow.
“It makes me confused,” she said. “I am confused by what are our norms? What are our standards? What are our traditions? I just feel like what is important to us as a nation anymore, because I’m lost. There were a whole standard of norms and rules that we followed to a T that we painstakingly tried to uphold, because it was bigger than us … that East Wing … it’s not mine. It is ours.”
During a live taping of her podcast, IMO, in Brooklyn on Wednesday night, Obama said Trump’s disregard for the White House shows how little he thinks of the First Lady’s role.
“When we talk about the East Wing, it is the heart of the work. And to denigrate it, to tear it down, to pretend like it doesn’t matter — it’s a reflection of how you think of that role,” Obama said, perVanity Fair. “Whether the West Wing understood it or not, I used to tell them: All the stuff we do on the East Wing, from the clothes I wear to [family dogs] Bo and Sunny to Malia and Sasha and grandma, those were five extra approval points that he got, because we provided a balance.”
If nothing else, the East Wing demolition is giving the former First Family members something to commiserate about the next time they all pal around without Trump.
A 56% majority of Americans oppose the Trump administration tearing down the East Wing of the White House as part of the construction of a 90,000-square-foot ballroom paid for by $300 million in private donations.
Alex Wong/Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — Most Americans oppose the demolition of the White House’s East Wing to make way for President Donald Trump’s ballroom, according to an ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll conducted using Ipsos’ KnowledgePanel.
A 56% majority of Americans oppose the Trump administration tearing down the East Wing of the White House as part of the construction of a 90,000-square-foot ballroom paid for by $300 million in private donations, including 45% who “strongly” oppose it, the poll finds.
Just 28% of Americans support it, with 15% strongly supporting the East Wing being torn down for a ballroom, the poll found. Another 16% say they are not sure.
Support breaks down by party lines, with a 62% majority of Republicans in support and 88% of Democrats opposed. A 61% majority of independents oppose the East Wing tear town and ballroom, with nearly half opposing it strongly, according to the poll.
Opinions are much stronger among Democrats: 78% of Democrats strongly oppose the teardown and ballroom, a much smaller 35% of Republicans strongly support it.
A majority of liberals (76%) and about half of moderates (51%) strongly oppose the East Wing teardown and ballroom, while just about a third of conservatives (34%) support it strongly.
Strong support peaks among strong Trump approvers, with 58% saying they strongly support the teardown of the East Wing and ballroom. Among those who somewhat approve of Trump, just 11% strongly support the plan.
Among strong Trump disapprovers, 82% strongly oppose tearing down the East Wing and building a ballroom, while a much smaller 37% of those who somewhat disapprove of the president strongly oppose the plan.
Just about four in 10 conservative Republicans (42%) say they are strongly in favor of the plan. Conversely, 82% of liberal Democrats and 73% of moderate and conservative Democrats oppose it strongly.
Methodology: This ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll was conducted online via the probability-based Ipsos KnowledgePanel® Oct. 24-28, 2025, in English and Spanish, among a random national sample of 2,725 U.S. adults and has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.9 percentage points, including the design effect. Error margins are larger for subgroups. The partisan divisions are 28% Democrats, 31% Republicans and 41% independents or something else.
See more details on ABC News’ survey methodology here.
Trump holds a rendering of the White House ballroom. Photo: Aaron Schwartz/CNP/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Incredibly, White House communications director Steven Cheung’s mocking of the “pearl clutching” “losers” who raised concerns about the East Wing being demolished did not quell the outrage over President Trump’s unilateral decision to tear down part of the White House to make way for his ballroom.
So the White House tried a different tactic on Wednesday afternoon: having President Trump explain that everyone needs to chill out because the East Wing was pretty ugly and his new White House ballroom will be totally badass.
“You know, the East Wing was not much,” Trump mused before the press in the Oval Office. “It was not much left from the original. It was, over the course of 100 years, it was changed, the columns were removed, it was a much different building. Then a story was added on in 1948, 1949. There was a story added on which was not particularly nice. And the building was very, very much changed from what it was originally. It was never thought of as being much. It was a very small building.”
So, Trump asserted, it would be wrong to let this historic eyesore stand in the way of his grand ballroom vision. “Rather than allowing that to hurt a very expensive, beautiful building that frankly they’ve been after for years,” he said.
While he was speaking, Trump brandished what appeared to be unreleased blueprints for the ballroom project, which have yet to be submitted to the National Capital Planning Commission as (arguably) required by law.
He also raised the estimated cost of the ballroom from $200 million to $300 million, and revealed that the military is heavily involved in the project … because they just love making beautiful buildings?
“We’re also working with the military on it, ’cause they want to make sure it’s perfect, and the military is very much involved in this,” Trump said. “They want to make sure that everything is absolutely beautiful.”
And while Trump said in July that the project “won’t interfere with the current building,” he appeared to confirm the entire East Wing will soon be no more.
“We are using little sections of footings and various other things, but that’s sort of irrelevant,” he said. “In order to do it properly, we had to take down the existing structure.
Earlier today, a White House official told NBC News that the “entirety” of the East Wing would go but would eventually be “modernized and rebuilt.” Trump’s model showed the new ballroom dwarfing the rest of the White House complex, but it’s unclear where this modernized East Wing might go (the giant structure on the right is the Treasury Building).
A rendering of President Trump’s proposed $250 million White House ballroom. Photo: Getty Images
A few hours later on Truth Social, Trump shared a video of Senator Josh Hawley calling liberals hypocrites because they were in favor of removing offensive statues and now oppose destroying parts of the White House with no oversight.
“They didn’t have any concern for history then,” Hawley said. “Now all of a sudden they’re like, oh, the facade of the East Wing is iconic.”
Trump has certainly raised some interesting arguments, but we still have a lot of questions. It probably would have been good if he’d made this pitch before most of the East Wing was reduced to rubble.
This post was updated to include Trump’s Truth Social post.
The White House on Monday started tearing down part of the East Wing, the traditional base of operations for the first lady, to build President Donald Trump’s ballroom.
Work begins on the demolition of a part of the East Wing of the White House, Monday, Oct. 20, 2025, in Washington, before construction of a new ballroom.
(AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
AP Photo/Evan Vucci
Barricades are in place for construction work for the planned new White House ballroom Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025, in Washington.
(AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein
Work begins on the demolition of a part of the East Wing of the White House, Monday, Oct. 20, 2025, in Washington, before construction of a new ballroom.
(AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
AP Photo/Evan Vucci
Work begins on the demolition of a part of the East Wing of the White House, Monday, Oct. 20, 2025, in Washington, before construction of a new ballroom.
(AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
AP Photo/Evan Vucci
Work begins on the demolition of a part of the East Wing of the White House, Monday, Oct. 20, 2025, in Washington, before construction of a new ballroom.
(AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
AP Photo/Evan Vucci
Work begins on the demolition of a part of the East Wing of the White House, Monday, Oct. 20, 2025, in Washington, before construction of a new ballroom.
(AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
AP Photo/Evan Vucci
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House on Monday started tearing down part of the East Wing, the traditional base of operations for the first lady, to build President Donald Trump’s $250 million ballroom despite lacking approval for construction from the federal agency that oversees such projects.
Dramatic photos of the demolition work showed construction equipment tearing into the East Wing façade and windows and other building parts in tatters on the ground. Some reporters watched from a park near the Treasury Department, which is next to the East Wing.
Trump announced the start of construction in a social media post and referenced the work while hosting 2025 college baseball champs Louisiana State University and LSU-Shreveport in the East Room. He noted the work was happening “right behind us.”
“We have a lot of construction going on, which you might hear periodically,” he said, adding, “It just started today.”
Its chairman, Will Scharf, who is also the White House staff secretary and one of Trump’s top aides, said at the commission’s September meeting that agency does not have jurisdiction over demolition or site preparation work for buildings on federal property.
“What we deal with is essentially construction, vertical build,” Scharf said last month.
It was unclear whether the White House had submitted the ballroom plans for the agency’s review and approval. The White House did not respond to a request for comment and the commission’s offices are closed because of the government shutdown.
The Republican president had said in July when the project was announced that the ballroom would not interfere with the mansion itself.
“It’ll be near it but not touching it and pays total respect to the existing building, which I’m the biggest fan of,” he said of the White House.
The East Wing houses several offices, including those of the first lady. It was built in 1902 and and has been renovated over the years, with a second story added in 1942, according to the White House.
Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said those East Wing offices will be temporarily relocated during construction and that wing of the building will be modernized and renovated.
“Nothing will be torn down,” Leavitt said when she announced the project in July.
Trump insists that presidents have desired such a ballroom for 150 years and that he’s adding the massive 90,000-square-foot, glass-walled space because the East Room, which is the largest room in the White House with an approximately 200-person capacity, is too small. He also has said he does not like the idea of hosting kings, queens, presidents and prime ministers in pavilions on the South Lawn.
Trump said in the social media announcement that the project would be completed “with zero cost to the American Taxpayer! The White House Ballroom is being privately funded by many generous Patriots, Great American Companies, and, yours truly.”
The ballroom will be the biggest structural change to the Executive Mansion since the addition in 1948 of the Truman Balcony overlooking the South Lawn, even dwarfing the residence itself.
At a dinner he hosted last week for some of the wealthy business executives who are donating money toward the $250 million construction cost, Trump said the project had grown in size and now will accommodate 999 people. The capacity was 650 seated people at the July announcement.
The White House has said it will disclose information on who has contributed money to build the ballroom, but has yet to do so.
Trump also said at last week’s event that the head of Carrier Global Corp., a leading manufacturer of heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems, had offered to donate the air conditioning system for the ballroom.
Carrier confirmed to The Associated Press on Monday that it had done so. A cost estimate was not immediately available.
“Carrier is honored to provide the new iconic ballroom at the White House with a world-class, energy-efficient HVAC system, bringing comfort to distinguished guests and dignitaries in this historic setting for years to come,” the company said in an emailed statement.
The clearing of trees on the south grounds and other site preparation work for the construction started in September. Plans call for the ballroom to be ready before Trump’s term ends in January 2029.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House on Monday started tearing down part of the East Wing, the traditional base of operations for the first lady, to build President Donald Trump’s ballroom despite lacking approval for construction from the federal agency that oversees such projects.
Dramatic photos of the demolition work showed a backhoe tearing into the East Wing façade and windows and other building parts in tatters on the ground. Some reporters watched from a park near the Treasury Department, which is next door to the East Wing.
Trump announced the start of construction in a social media post and referenced the work while hosting 2025 college baseball champs Louisiana State University and LSU-Shreveport in the East Room. He noted the work was happening “right behind us.”
“We have a lot of construction going on, which you might hear periodically,” he said, adding, “It just started today.”
Its chairman, Will Scharf, who is also the White House staff secretary and one of Trump’s top aides, said at the commission’s September meeting that agency does not have jurisdiction over demolition or site preparation work for buildings on federal property.
“What we deal with is essentially construction, vertical build,” Scharf said last month.
A model is seen as President Donald Trump addresses a dinner for donors who have contributed to build the new ballroom at the White House, Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)
It was unclear whether the White House had submitted the ballroom plans for the agency’s review and approval. The White House did not respond to a request for comment and the commission’s offices are closed because of the government shutdown.
The Republican president had said in July when the project was announced that the ballroom would not interfere with the mansion itself.
“It’ll be near it but not touching it and pays total respect to the existing building, which I’m the biggest fan of,” he said of the White House. “It’s my favorite. It’s my favorite place. I love it.”
The East Wing houses several offices, including the office of the first lady. It was constructed in 1902 and and has been renovated over the years, and a second story was added in 1942, according to the White House.
Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said those East Wing offices will be temporarily relocated during construction and that wing of the building will be modernized and renovated.
Work begins on the demolition of a part of the East Wing of the White House, Monday, Oct. 20, 2025, in Washington, before construction of a new ballroom. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
“Nothing will be torn down,” Leavitt said when she announced the project in July.
Trump insists that such a ballroom has been desired for 150 years and that he’s adding the massive 90,000-square-foot, glass-walled space because the East Room, which is the largest room in the White House with an approximately 200-person capacity, is too small. He also has said he does not like the idea of hosting kings, queens, presidents and prime ministers in pavilions on the South Lawn.
The ballroom will be the biggest structural change to the Executive Mansion since the addition of the Truman Balcony overlooking the South Lawn in 1948, even dwarfing the building itself.
Barricades are in place for construction work for the planned new White House ballroom Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
At a dinner he hosted last week for some of the wealthy business executives who are donating money toward the $250 million construction cost, Trump said the project had grown in size and now will accommodate 999 people. The capacity was 650 seated people at the July announcement.
The clearing of trees on the south grounds and other site preparation work started in September. Plans call for the ballroom to be ready before Trump’s term ends in January 2029.
Donald Trump may be the only person who’s ever stood before a crowd and boasted, “I’m very good at building ballrooms.” While Trump is known for making self-aggrandizingclaims with no basis in reality, he’s actually trying to prove this one is true with a high-stakes addition to the White House.
In June 2025, Trump revealed on Truth Social that the White House would soon have a new ballroom, “compliments of a man known as Donald J. Trump.” A month later, the White House announced vague plans to build a 90,000-square-foot state ballroom off the East Wing. That’s nearly double the size of the residence, making this the biggest White House renovation in decades. While Trump has always said he would pay for the ballroom himself, it’s unclear how much he’ll actually contribute to the project. Construction began in mid-September, though the many details about the project are still a mystery.
Here’s a guide, which we’ll keep updated, to everything we know about the new White House ballroom, including artist renderings, cost estimates, and the construction timeline.
When did Trump announce his ballroom plan?
Trump started talking about building a White House ballroom before he even entered politics. It became clear that this was more than just weird Trumpian musing in June 2025, when he revealed on Truth Social that he’d selected a site for the project:
On July 31, 2025, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced that construction of a 90,000-square-foot ballroom would begin soon, with McCrery Architects as lead architect:
On August 5, 2025, Trump took a “little walk” on the White House roof with architect Jim McCrery to get a bird’s-eye view of where the building will go:
It seems so, though Leavitt did not highlight this in the initial announcement. Potential donors received a pledge agreement that refers to “The Donald J. Trump Ballroom at the White House,” according to CBS News.
How much will the ballroom cost?
Approximately $200 million, according to the White House.
Is Trump paying for the White House ballroom?
While ranting about a White House ballroom over the years, Trump always made it sound like he’d pay for it on his own. But Leavitt said, “President Trump, and other patriot donors, have generously committed to donating the funds necessary to build this approximately $200 million structure.”
The White House has declined to give details on how much Trump will actually pay and who exactly these “other patriot donors” might be. When asked on August 1 if he’d block foreign donations, Trump said he hadn’t thought about that: “I’m not looking for that. You have very strong restrictions. And we go by the restrictions.”
The funding plan, such as it is, doesn’t sound great from an ethical standpoint. Per the New York Times:
Noah Bookbinder, the president of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, or CREW, said the donor funding plan was “highly unusual.”
“There is certainly a risk that donors to this project, which Donald Trump has made clear is important to him, could see it as a way to curry favor with the administration,” he said.
Who’s donated so far?
The White House has yet to name the donors. But on September 19, 2025, CBS News reported that multiple companies have already pledged to donate $5 million or more to the project:
Google, R.J. Reynolds, Booz Allen Hamilton, Lockheed Martin, Palantir and NextEra Energy have donated, and so have firms in the tech, manufacturing, banking and health industries, sources told CBS News.
Lockheed Martin is among the companies that have pledged more than $10 million, according to one of the sources. Company officials declined to confirm the amount, but Jalen Drummond, vice president of corporate affairs at Lockheed Martin said in a statement: “Lockheed Martin is grateful for the opportunity to help bring the President’s vision to reality and make this addition to the People’s House, a powerful symbol of the American ideals we work to defend every day.”
Individuals have also pledged to contribute, but the only person identified in the CBS report was Blackstone Group CEO Stephen Schwarzman.
What do donors receive?
They may get their name displayed on the building, but that hasn’t been decided yet. CBS News reported:
The pledge form, which was reviewed by CBS News, gives donors the option to pay in a lump sum or spread their contribution over three installments to be completed by 2027.
In return, donors are eligible for “recognition associated with the White House Ballroom.” What form that recognition takes is still being discussed, but several sources said the expectation is that names will be etched in the ballroom’s brick or stone.
They’ll also get a big tax write-off:
Meredith O’Rourke, a top political fundraiser for Mr. Trump, is leading the effort, paired with the Trust for the National Mall, an organization that supports the National Park Service. The trust’s nonprofit status means donations come with a federal tax write-off.
When did construction start?
Construction on the project began in mid-September with some tree removal, though the White House has not not even revealed the ballroom’s exact location.
Trump pointed out the work trucks to reporters on Thursday, September 11, noting, “They’ve just started construction of the new ballroom.” The crews were still at work cutting down trees, removing shrubs, and digging up parts of the South Lawn on September 16, as the Washington Postnoted.
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
Have the architectural plans been released?
No; presumably they exist, since construction work has started, but the White House has not made them public.
Are there renderings of the new ballroom?
Yes; shortly after Leavitt’s announcement, the White House released ten artist renderings of what the new event space will look like from various angles.
Photo: White HousePhoto: White HousePhoto: White HousePhoto: White HousePhoto: White HousePhoto: White HousePhoto: White HousePhoto: White HousePhoto: White HousePhoto: White House
Where will it be located, roughly?
The structure is expected to replace much of the current East Wing. The White House press release on the project emphasized that this part of the building “has been renovated and changed many times”:
The White House Ballroom will be substantially separated from the main building of the White House, but at the same time, it’s theme and architectural heritage will be almost identical. The site of the new ballroom will be where the small, heavily changed, and reconstructed East Wing currently sits. The East Wing was constructed in 1902 and has been renovated and changed many times, with a second story added in 1942.
What will happen to the offices in the East Wing?
They will be temporarily relocated and “the East Wing will be modernized and renovated,” according to Leavitt.
It’s unclear what this means for the people who currently work there, including the First Lady’s staff. Anita McBride, former chief of staff to First Lady Laura Bush, raised concerns about how the ballroom will impact the daily functioning of the White House.
“Betty Ford always called the East Wing the ‘heart’ of the White House,” McBride told the Hill. “All the business and policy gets done in the West Wing, that’s critically important. But the heart of the White House is the East Wing. And so what, what will be the new East Wing?”
What about public White House tours?
They’ve been suspended indefinitely. The Washington Postreported on August 21:
The administration canceled tours scheduled for September and is not accepting tour requests beyond that, according to multiple congressional offices and an email sent by the White House to congressional offices. On their websites, members of Congress gave various reasons for the moratorium: “scheduled construction,” “extensive renovations” and “construction of President Trump’s new ballroom.”
It’s rare for the White House to cancel all public tours for months or even years. The administration has not responded to journalists questions about the tours.
When will it be finished?
The press release says it’s “expected to be completed long before the end of President Trump’s term” in January 2029.
How long has Trump been planning this ballroom?
For many years, Trump has publicly claimed that he offered to build a collapsible $100 million White House ballroom and the Obama administration did not take him up on it:
Trump says he offered to build a ballroom in The White House for 100 million but never heard back from The Biden Administration. He then says he will try to make the offer to himself that he suggests he’ll pay for: We’ll see if Trump will approve it pic.twitter.com/EUazuRDm6Y
Surprisingly, this is at least partially true. In his book Believer: My Forty Years in Politics, David Axelrod confirmed that while he was working in the Obama White House in 2010, Trump called to pitch him on a ballroom. (Trump claims he offered to pay for it himself, but Axelrod did not address that detail.)
“‘I build ballrooms. Beautiful ballrooms,’” Trump said, according to Axelrod. “Not being much of a dancer, I didn’t know where he was headed. ‘I see you have these state dinners on the lawn there in these shitty little tents. Let me build you a ballroom you can assemble and take apart. Trust me. It’ll look great.’”
Axelrod said he handed the pitch off to someone else, and they didn’t follow up.
Is this project really necessary?
The White House State Ballroom is a “much-needed” addition, according to the press release. The East Room, the largest room in White House, can only seat 200 people, which is why state dinners take place in a tent on the lawn.
Back in 2011, Trump lamented that the White House is using “an old, rotten tent that frankly they probably rented, pay a guy millions of dollars for it even though it’s worth about $2?” But as Eater noted, it’s actually a pretty swanky tent:
The tent for the 2009 India dinner, which Vanity Fairdescribed as “a massive pavilion, complete with an orchestra platform, theatrical lighting, a professional sound system, full heating, satellite kitchens, and a dozen chandeliers bedecked with sustainably harvested magnolia branches and ivy,” took six days to construct and cost a reported $85,000.
And the symbolism of this new project is “monstrous,” as New York’s Chris Bonanos pointed out: “That Trump will build a ballroom — the most on-the-nose embodiment of let-them-eat-cake Versailles extravagance — just as he throws old people off Medicare and kids off food stamps is as big a trolling as has ever been trolled.”
So why is Trump really building this ballroom?
Is Trump doing this because he’s a magnanimous builder who wants to share his gift with the American people? Or is he just a narcissist looking to leave his mark on the White House by transforming it into Mar-a-Lago North? That’s a matter of interpretation. But it’s pretty clear that he really, really hates partying in a tent.
