Construction for Donald Trump’s $250 million ballroom started just last week, with construction crews tearing down the facade of the East Wing where the new space is being built.
The ballroom, standing at an enormous 90,000 square feet, will accommodate 999 people一a drastic increase from the White House’s largest room, which contains a 200-person limit. According to the architectural renderings released by the White House, the glittery ballroom will resemble the ballroom at Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s private club and home in Palm Beach, FL, and will stand separate from the White House itself.
This fact sparked controversy from organizations, such as the National Trust for Historic Preservation. In a letter to the National Park Service and other agencies on Tuesday, they joined the growing criticism of the administration, cautioning that the proposed ballroom’s design could “overwhelm” the White House. The organization urged that construction be halted until the commission responsible for overseeing the capital’s historic landscape is consulted. However, the commission, which includes the National Capital Planning Commission and the Commission of Fine Arts, has remained silent, as most federal agencies are shut down due to the lapse in government funding.
Another controversial facet of Trump’s decision involves taxes, as some people worried about their money funding this lavishness. However, Trump assures the public that not a cent of taxpayer money is being spent. Instead, the project is being funded by “many generous Patriots, Great American Companies, and, yours truly.” These “Great American Companies” include a variety of firms. In terms of tech, donor companies included YouTube—which gave $22 million for the construction of the gold ballroom as part of a settlement for a 2021 lawsuit Trump brought against the company—NVIDIA, Google, Amazon, Microsoft and T-Mobile. However, tech giants weren’t the only ones: the list of donors contained defense firm Lockheed Martin—which donated over $10 million— and investment manager BlackRock.
However, the biggest concern of many is Trump’s demolition of the East Wing. Though it is an often-overlooked part of the White House, the Wing is as rich in history as any other area. Originally built as an entrance and reception area, it was modernized in 1942 as the home of the First Lady’s office, as Eleanor Roosevelt expanded the public role of the First Lady, advocating for social issues, holding press conferences and managing her own staff. This effectively turned the East Wing into the symbolic and administrative center of the First Lady’s activities. From the postwar era to the present, the East Wing has come to represent the human and cultural side of the White House—public outreach, national ceremonies, holiday events and the First Family’s projects.
Fortunately, one of the crucial parts of the East Wing will remain intact. Just below is one of the most secure and historically significant areas of the White House: the Presidential Emergency Operations Center (PEOC), with a history of its own.
The PEOC serves as an underground bunker for the president and his comrades in the event of a national emergency. Built during World War II to protect President Roosevelt from aerial bombings, it has remained useful as a safe zone for presidents during times of danger, such as when George Bush was taken there after the 9/11 terrorist attack. This way, a place important to both history and presidential safety will remain within White House grounds.
For those outraged at the radical changes that Trump is making in regards to the presidential residence, his staff defends him with history: “Nearly every single president who has lived in this beautiful White House … has made modernizations and renovations of their own,” says White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt. She has a point: Thomas Jefferson added colonnaded terraces on the east and west sides of the House, Theodore Roosevelt added the West Wing and simplified the architecture to a neoclassical Georgian style and Harry Truman added the Truman Balcony to the South Portico, which was controversial at the time.
Additionally, President Trump has chosen McCrery Architects—a firm well-known for their classical architectural design—for the visuals of the ballroom to preserve the typical neoclassical style of the White House. According to the White House, the ballroom “will be substantially separated from the main building of the White House … but at the same time, its theme and architectural heritage will be almost identical.”
However, no president has undertaken demolition work to the extent that Trump plans to, highlighting the grandness of his vision and willingness to overlook what he considers insignificant or outdated.
Overall, his decision is complex: one that overlooks some aspects of history while holding others in high regard, remaining respectful of some organizations and dismissive of some.
