The White House Ballroom
Project
How President Trump
missed a gimme, blew a slam dunk and is wasting America’s time…
In golf, it’s called a gimme, a
can’t miss putt. In basketball, the can’t miss shot is the slam dunk. In White
House politics, a ballroom for visiting dignitaries certainly qualifies. But
President Trump misread the green and somehow hit the rim on his slam dunk.
Once again embroiling America in yet another unnecessary political “us vs them”
moment.
Clearly the White House and
President Trump have been all over the map on the Trump Ballroom project.
Normally a project this size gets designed and drawn by architects before
demolition. Then it is submitted to review for structural compliance and safety.
Then permits are issued and only them can the project begin.
None of that happened in this case
do to a confluence of loopholes in the federal system. As such, a president,
using private funding, has 100% full authority to manage and direct the project
as he or she sees fit.
That said, this is not Donald J
Trump’s house. It is the people’s house, owned in common by all citizen’s of
the country.
Throughout the process, President
Trump has at best been defensive about questions and opaque with details. At
worst, the President was lying when he spoke of the cost, size and scope of the
ballroom project.
To date we have not been presented
with any actual plans, finished architectural drawings, structural analysis or
explanations as to why the East Wing, despite the president’s promises was
demolished, along with the Jacqueline Kennedy Rose Garden. It’s basically been,
from an administration low on the truth meter, “Trust us!”
I don’t have a problem with
modifications to the White House. In fact the Obama Administration oversaw a
Congressionally approved and funded renovation of the heating, cooling and
electrical systems along with other needed interior improvements and a tennis
court. That is how the White House has been modified for generations. In fact,
at one point President Truman wanted to enlarge the Oval Office and Congress
said no. He did not proceed, although his administration did add what became
known as the Truman balcony and make a series of other needed improvements.
President Trump is correct, the
White House needs a larger banquet area. Tents and portable potties are not
acceptable for a State Dinner. I’m also sure he decided to do it as he wanted
because as Ezra Klein and the Abundance crowd has noted, nothing gets built
quickly anymore in the US. The regulations simply won’t permit it, and I’m sure
Trump wants to be the first to hold a State Dinner in the new ballroom.
But he should have worked with the
Washington DC Commission of Fine Arts and the other DC architectural review
boards to ensure the project fit the overall sense of the Capitol area. Instead
of firing them, only to be replaced with hand picked loyalists. A more
democratic and open planning process would have ensured a better project,
supported by a majority of Americans.
Sadly, that is not the case now.
Timeline of the Trump Ballroom Project
July 2025
•
President Trump announces a plan to build a 90,000 square foot ballroom to seat 650
people at cost of $250 million on the White House grounds. It was scheduled to
begin in September 2025 and be done before Trump leaves office in January 2029.
•
On July 31, the
White House announced its plans for constructing the ballroom. While promoting
the project at the White House, Trump said the ballroom "won't interfere with the current building. … It
will be near it but not touching it. It pays total respect to the existing
building, which I’m
the biggest fan of. It’s my
favorite place. I love it.”
•
President Trump
announces construction of the $250 million ballroom will be privately funded.
August 2025
•
McCrery Architects, a Washington-based firm recognized for its work
in classical architecture, has been appointed
as lead architect on the new
ballroom. You can see from the renderings that the ballroom was to be attached
to the East Wing, as Trump stated in July, 2025.
October 2025
•
A list of donors to the ballroom project were released. Many have
business pending with the US Government. Additionally, the cost has now grown
to $300 million.
•
After stating the
East Wing would “not be touched” during the construction of the new ballroom, the facade was demolished.
•
Trump orders the
East Wing demolished in an F-word rant.
•
Announcing
funding, the President also said the East Wing of the White House would be totally
demolished. This was done
without any public comment and after Trump publicly stated he would not do so.
•
Demolition
workers say they are not allowed to talk about the
demolition and have been
forced to sign NDAs.
•
Federal workers were told to stop taking and
sharing photos of the
demolition.
•
The East Wing of
the White House is totally demolished.
•
Trump calls
criticism of his total demolition of the East Wing of the White House, which he
stated would not be touched, “music to his ears” on Fox News.
•
Trump fires the entire membership of the Commission of Fine Arts,
established by Congress in 1910. The commission is charged with giving expert
advice to the president, Congress and other officials on design and
preservation.
Members of the Trump Administration have already
started calling the new project the Donald J Trump Ballroom. Trump has called those
reports
