WASHINGTON (AP) — Construction started this week on the $250 million ballroom that President Donald Trump is adding to the White House as construction crews began tearing down the facade of the East Wing, where the new space is being built.
The Republican president and top White House officials had initially said nothing would be demolished during construction.
The 90,000-square-foot ballroom will dwarf the main White House itself, at nearly double the size, and Trump says it will accommodate 999 people.
Trump said on social media that the ballroom won’t cost taxpayers a dime because it is being privately funded by “many generous Patriots, Great American Companies, and, yours truly.”
Here are some things to know about the newest White House construction project:
Why is Trump building a ballroom?
Trump says the White House needs a large entertaining space and has complained that the East Room, the current largest space in the White House, is too small, holding about 200 people. He has frowned on the past practice of presidents hosting state dinners and other large events in tents on the South Lawn.
Who is paying the $250 million construction tab?
Trump says the project will be paid for with private donations and that no public money will be spent on the ballroom. The White House promised to release information on which individuals and corporations have pledged or donated money and invited some of the donors to an East Room dinner last week, but has not released a comprehensive list and breakdown of funds.
Some $22 million for the project came from YouTube, a Google subsidiary, as part of a recent settlement for a 2021 lawsuit Trump brought against the company.
The White House also has not said how much of his own money Trump is contributing.
Why tear down part of the East Wing to build the ballroom?
The East Wing is traditionally the social side of the White House and sits across East Executive Avenue from the Treasury Department. It’s where tourists and other guests enter for events.
The president and his chief spokesperson, Karoline Leavitt, said over the summer that the White House itself would remain intact as the ballroom was going up.
“It’ll be near it but not touching it,” Trump said. “Nothing will be torn down,” Leavitt added.
That turned out not to be the case.
The White House said some demolition was needed because the East Wing, the traditional home for the first lady and her staff, is being modernized as part of the ballroom project.
Can Trump build a ballroom?
He's moving ahead with construction despite the lack of sign-off from the National Capital Planning Commission, the executive branch agency that has jurisdiction over construction and major renovations to government buildings in the region.
Trump named a top White House aide, Will Scharf, to head the commission. Scharf has made a distinction between demolition work and rebuilding, saying the commission was only required to vet the latter.
What happens to the East Room?
By Trump's telling, it will become a space where guests will mingle, sip cocktails and eat hors d'oeuvres until they are called into the ballroom for dinner. Trump said a set of windows in the room will be removed to create a passageway to and from the ballroom.
What will the new ballroom look like?
Renderings released by the White House suggest a strong resemblance to the gilded ballroom at Mar-a-Lago, Trump's private club and home in Palm Beach, Florida.
The project also has grown in size since it was announced, going from accommodating 650 seated guests to holding 999 people, big enough to fit an inauguration if needed, he said at a recent White House dinner for donors. Windows will be bulletproof, he said.
When will the ballroom be completed?
The White House has said the ballroom will be ready for use before Trump's second term ends in January 2029, an ambitious timeline.
Has Trump made other changes to the White House?
Yes. He has heavily redecorated the Oval Office by adding numerous portraits, busts and gold-toned adornments. He converted the Rose Garden into a stone-covered patio, installed towering flagpoles on the north and south lawns, and decorated an exterior wall with portraits of every president except his immediate predecessor, Democrat Joe Biden.
Trump also said he renovated the bathroom in the famous Lincoln Bedroom in the private living quarters and laid down marble floors in a passageway leading to the South Lawn.
How has construction changed the White House over the years?
Presidents have added to the White House since construction began in 1792 for a host of reasons, and Trump aides say his decision to build a ballroom follows that long tradition.
Many of the prior projects were criticized as being too costly or too lavish, but eventually came to be accepted, according to the White House Historical Association.
Thomas Jefferson added the east and west colonnades.
Andrew Jackson built the North Portico on the Pennsylvania Avenue side of the White House, aligning with the South Portico that James Monroe added after the original mansion was rebuilt after the British burned it during the War of 1812.
Theodore Roosevelt added the West Wing to provide dedicated space for the president and key staff, while Franklin D. Roosevelt added the East Wing, which over time became the home base for the first lady's staff and social functions.
One of the most significant White House renovations happened under Harry Truman, when the mansion was found to be so structurally unsound that he ordered a complete gutting of the interior that lasted from 1948 to 1952. The project, including Truman's addition of a balcony to the second floor of the South Portico, was highly controversial.
Other changes include the creation of the Rose Garden during John F. Kennedy's administration and Richard Nixon's decision to convert an indoor swimming pool that was built for FDR's physical therapy into a workspace for the growing White House press corps.
