Trump’s White Home Ballroom: Plans, Value, and Who’s Actually Paying
Donald Trump could be the solely one that’s ever stood earlier than a crowd and boasted, “I’m excellent at constructing ballrooms.” Whereas Trump is thought for making self-aggrandizing claims with no foundation in actuality, he’s truly making an attempt to show this one is true with a high-stakes addition to the White Home.
In June 2025, Trump introduced on Reality Social that the White Home would quickly have a brand new ballroom, “compliments of a person generally known as Donald J. Trump.” A month later, the White Home introduced obscure plans to construct a 90,000-square-foot state ballroom off the East Wing. That’s almost double the dimensions of the residence, making this the largest White Home renovation in many years. Whereas Trump has all the time stated he would pay for the ballroom himself, it’s unclear how a lot he’s contributed to the venture. And whereas the venture has not been accredited by the federal company that oversees main renovations to authorities buildings, the East Wing has been completely demolished to make means for the ballroom.
Right here’s a information, which we’ll hold up to date, to all the things we all know concerning the new White Home ballroom, together with artist renderings, value estimates, and the development timeline.
When did Trump announce his ballroom plan?
Trump began speaking about constructing a White Home ballroom earlier than he even entered politics. It turned clear that this was extra than simply bizarre Trumpian musing in June 2025, when he revealed on Reality Social that he’d chosen a website for the venture:
On July 31, 2025, White Home press secretary Karoline Leavitt introduced that building of a 90,000-square-foot ballroom would start quickly, with McCrery Architects as lead architect:
On August 5, 2025, Trump took a “little stroll” on the White Home roof with architect Jim McCrery to get a hen’s-eye view of the place the constructing will go:
don't leap, sir! pic.twitter.com/LngB2CSeno
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 5, 2025
When did demolition begin?
Work started on the venture started in mid-September with some tree elimination. Trump identified the work vehicles to reporters on Thursday, September 11, noting, “They’ve simply began building of the brand new ballroom.”
When requested concerning the scope of the landscaping venture, the White Home gave the Put up the run round:
On Thursday, a White Home official stated crews are within the “preservation stage,” through which they transfer timber, shrubs and different foliage to an off-site nursery for safekeeping. The official stated these efforts might final a number of weeks. The official referred questions on landscaping particulars to the Nationwide Park Service, which manages the White Home grounds.
A spokeswoman for the Park Service stated she couldn’t give the variety of White Home timber affected by the venture or the standing of people who had already been trimmed or felled.
On October 20, demolition crews started tearing down a part of the White Home. Photographs confirmed a backhoe ripping by means of the facade of the East Wing.
The Treasury Division advised staff, whose workplaces are subsequent to the East Wing, to not share images of the venture.
“As building proceeds on the White Home grounds, staff ought to chorus from taking and sharing images of the grounds, to incorporate the East Wing, with out prior approval from the Workplace of Public Affairs,” a Treasury official wrote in an electronic mail, based on the Wall Road Journal.
Was the complete East Wing torn down?
Sure, although White Home officers didn’t initially make that clear.
The primary White Home press launch on the ballroom stated it could be positioned, “the place the small, closely modified, and reconstructed East Wing at present sits”:
The White Home Ballroom can be considerably separated from the primary constructing of the White Home, however on the identical time, it’s theme and architectural heritage can be nearly similar. The positioning of the brand new ballroom can be the place the small, closely modified, and reconstructed East Wing at present sits. The East Wing was constructed in 1902 and has been renovated and altered many instances, with a second story added in 1942.
However later in July, Trump stated his ballroom venture, “Received’t intrude with the present constructing. … It’ll be close to it however not touching it — and pays complete respect to the present constructing, which I’m the largest fan of.”
Don't fear "it received't intrude with the present constructing".
One other Trump LIE! pic.twitter.com/XmiLhC679o
— Ken S 🇨🇦 (@kstaubin) October 22, 2025
After images of the destruction of the East Wing’s facade went viral in mid-October, an nameless White Home official confirmed the entire constructing was coming down, telling ABC Information that the “entirety of the East Wing can be modernized.”
As of Thursday, October 23 the East Wing was only a pile of rubble:
Have the architectural plans been launched?
No. Presumably they exist, however they haven’t been made public. The ballroom venture has not been submitted to the Nationwide Capital Planning Fee, the federal government physique that approves plans to vary authorities constructing within the Washington, D.C. space.
So is the ballroom venture unlawful?
Perhaps! Federal preservation legislation says the Nationwide Capital Planning Fee should vet even comparatively minor building and renovation tasks on the White Home, because the Washington Put up reported in August:
Three former planning fee members advised The Washington Put up {that a} evaluation of any exterior building venture on the White Home is required by federal legislation.
“If we had jurisdictional evaluation over a fence, we’d logically have jurisdiction over a complete wing being added to the White Home,” stated L. Preston Bryant Jr., who chaired the fee for almost a decade earlier than stepping down in 2019.
This course of typically takes years. So why was the East Wing facade torn down simply months after Trump introduced the ballroom venture? Effectively, conveniently for Trump, fee chair Will Scharf — certainly one of his prime aides, who he appointed to steer the fee in July — doesn’t assume a evaluation is important at this level.
On the Nationwide Capital Planning Fee’s September assembly, Scharf claimed approval is just required within the building part, and expressed his pleasure concerning the ballroom. Per the AP:
Will Scharf, who can also be the White Home workers secretary, stated throughout a public assembly of the Nationwide Capital Planning Fee that the board doesn’t have jurisdiction over demolition or website preparation work for buildings on federal property.
“What we take care of is basically building, vertical construct,” Scharf stated. He known as Trump’s promised ballroom “one of the crucial thrilling building tasks within the fashionable historical past of” Washington.
Authorized specialists advised the Milwaukee Impartial that demolishing a part of the White Home is certainly unlawful, significantly throughout a authorities shutdown:
Authorized specialists stated the demolition violates federal preservation legislation as a result of no company approval or price range authorization exists to change the White Home throughout a authorities shutdown.
The Nationwide Park Service, which manages the property, and the Nationwide Capital Planning Fee, which opinions building on federal grounds, are each shuttered and can’t problem permits or oversight.
With out these clearances, they stated, the work proceeds with out lawful authority — making the demolition itself unlawful below federal statute.
Who owns the White Home?
We do. The White Home and the encircling grounds formally turned a nationwide park in 1961. “The White Home is owned by the American individuals and stewarded by the Nationwide Park Service,” based on NPS.gov.
How massive will the ballroom be?
The White Home initially stated it’s going to seat 650 individuals, however in a September 13 interview with NBC Information, Trump stated the capability will truly be 900 individuals. (The East Room, at present the biggest room within the White Home, can solely seat 200.)
“We’re making it a little bit greater. It will likely be prime of the road, nearly as good as it could get wherever on the earth,” he stated.
Are there renderings of the brand new ballroom?
Sure; shortly after Leavitt’s announcement, the White Home launched ten artist renderings of what the brand new occasion area will appear to be from varied angles.
What is going to occur to the workplaces within the East Wing?
They have been briefly relocated, and Leavitt stated, “the East Wing can be modernized and renovated.”
It’s unclear what this implies for the individuals who at present work there, together with the First Girl’s workers. Anita McBride, former chief of workers to First Girl Laura Bush, raised considerations about how the ballroom will impression the every day functioning of the White Home.
“Betty Ford all the time known as the East Wing the ‘coronary heart’ of the White Home,” McBride advised the Hill. “All of the enterprise and coverage will get achieved within the West Wing, that’s critically necessary. However the coronary heart of the White Home is the East Wing. And so what, what would be the new East Wing?”
What about public White Home excursions?
They have been suspended indefinitely in late August 2025. The Washington Put up reported:
The administration canceled excursions scheduled for September and isn’t accepting tour requests past that, based on a number of congressional workplaces and an electronic mail despatched by the White Home to congressional workplaces. On their web sites, members of Congress gave varied causes for the moratorium: “scheduled building,” “intensive renovations” and “building of President Trump’s new ballroom.”
It’s uncommon for the White Home to cancel all public excursions for months and even years. The administration has not responded to journalists questions concerning the excursions.
Will the federal government shutdown delay ballroom building?
Nope! Simply earlier than the shutdown went into impact a White Home official advised ABC Information, “There won’t be a stoppage of ballroom work when the shutdown happens,” including, “Work will proceed to be carried out because the funds at present supporting aren’t tied to a FY26 enacted appropriation.”
An administration official later advised Snopes, “Ballroom building is continuous as it’s financed by personal donations, not the federal appropriations that Democrats are holding as much as push free well being look after unlawful immigrants.” Referring to the GOP’s false declare about Democrats’ shutdown calls for.
How a lot will the ballroom value?
Roughly $200 million, based on the White Home.
Is Trump paying for the White Home ballroom?
Whereas ranting a couple of White Home ballroom through the years, Trump all the time made it sound like he’d pay for it on his personal. However Leavitt stated, “President Trump, and different patriot donors, have generously dedicated to donating the funds essential to construct this roughly $200 million construction.”
The White Home has declined to offer particulars on how a lot Trump will truly pay and who precisely these “different patriot donors” is perhaps. When requested on August 1 if he’d block international donations, Trump stated he hadn’t thought of that: “I’m not in search of that. You could have very sturdy restrictions. And we go by the restrictions.”
To date the one Trump contribution we all know of is the $24.5 million YouTube paid to settle a lawsuit he introduced after the positioning suspended his account following the Capitol riot. Court docket paperwork stated the cash would go to the Belief for the Nationwide Mall and the ballroom venture.
Who’s donated up to now?
On September 19, 2025, CBS Information reported that a number of corporations have already pledged to donate $5 million or extra to the venture:
Google, R.J. Reynolds, Booz Allen Hamilton, Lockheed Martin, Palantir and NextEra Vitality have donated, and so have companies within the tech, manufacturing, banking and well being industries, sources advised CBS Information.
Lockheed Martin is among the many corporations which have pledged greater than $10 million, based on one of many sources. Firm officers declined to verify the quantity, however Jalen Drummond, vice chairman of company affairs at Lockheed Martin stated in an announcement: “Lockheed Martin is grateful for the chance to assist carry the President’s imaginative and prescient to actuality and make this addition to the Folks’s Home, a strong image of the American beliefs we work to defend day by day.”
Trump hosted a dinner for ballroom donors on the White Home on October 22. The Wall Road Journal reported that the visitor checklist included greater than three dozen organizations and people, a few of whom have enterprise with the federal authorities:
Corporations that despatched representatives to the East Room occasion included Lockheed Martin, Microsoft, Meta Platforms, Alphabet’s Google, Amazon.com and Palantir Applied sciences, based on the White Home. The visitor checklist additionally featured rich people and households, equivalent to oil billionaire Harold Hamm, Blackstone Chief Govt Steve Schwarzman and Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss.
The White Home launched the full checklist of 37 particular person and company donors in late October, however didn’t embody how a lot every donor contributed.
What do donors obtain?
They might get their identify displayed on the constructing, however that hasn’t been determined but. CBS Information reported:
The pledge type, which was reviewed by CBS Information, provides donors the choice to pay in a lump sum or unfold their contribution over three installments to be accomplished by 2027.
In return, donors are eligible for “recognition related to the White Home Ballroom.” What type that recognition takes continues to be being mentioned, however a number of sources stated the expectation is that names can be etched within the ballroom’s brick or stone.
They’ll additionally get an enormous tax write-off:
Meredith O’Rourke, a prime political fundraiser for Mr. Trump, is main the trouble, paired with the Belief for the Nationwide Mall, a corporation that helps the Nationwide Park Service. The belief’s nonprofit standing means donations include a federal tax write-off.
Doesn’t this increase main moral points?
Completely. Noah Bookbinder, the president of Residents for Accountability and Ethics in Washington, or CREW, advised the New York Instances: that the donor funding plan is “extremely uncommon.”
“There’s actually a danger that donors to this venture, which Donald Trump has made clear is necessary to him, might see it as a strategy to curry favor with the administration,” he stated.
Ethics watchdogs additionally famous after Trump’s hosted donors on the White Home that such efforts put strain on different corporations to contribute:
“Each firm that’s invited to that dinner that both doesn’t present or doesn’t give is aware of now they are going to be out of favor with the Trump administration,” stated Claire Finkelstein, a College of Pennsylvania legislation professor and school director of the Heart for Ethics and the Rule of Legislation, advised the Journal.
When will the ballroom be completed?
The press launch says it’s “anticipated to be accomplished lengthy earlier than the top of President Trump’s time period” in January 2029.
Will the ballroom be named after Trump?
It appears so, although Leavitt didn’t spotlight this within the preliminary announcement. Potential donors obtained a pledge settlement that refers to “The Donald J. Trump Ballroom on the White Home,” based on CBS Information.
How lengthy has Trump been planning this ballroom?
For a few years, Trump has publicly claimed that he supplied to construct a collapsible $100 million White Home ballroom and the Obama administration didn’t take him up on it:
Trump says he supplied to construct a ballroom in The White Home for 100 million however by no means heard again from The Biden Administration. He then says he’ll attempt to make the supply to himself that he suggests he’ll pay for: We’ll see if Trump will approve it pic.twitter.com/EUazuRDm6Y
— Acyn (@Acyn) February 5, 2025
Surprisingly, that is at the least partially true. In his guide Believer: My Forty Years in Politics, David Axelrod confirmed that whereas he was working within the Obama White Home in 2010, Trump known as to pitch him on a ballroom. (Trump claims he supplied to pay for it himself, however Axelrod didn’t deal with that element.)
“‘I construct ballrooms. Stunning ballrooms,’” Trump stated, based on Axelrod. “Not being a lot of a dancer, I didn’t know the place he was headed. ‘I see you’ve got these state dinners on the garden there in these shitty little tents. Let me construct you a ballroom you may assemble and take aside. Belief me. It’ll look nice.’”
Axelrod stated he handed the pitch off to another person, they usually didn’t observe up.
Is that this venture actually essential?
President Trump and White Home officers have repeatedly described the ballroom as a “much-needed” addition to the White Home.
Because the East Room, the biggest room in White Home, can solely seat 200 individuals, state dinners normally happen in a tent on the garden.
Again in 2011, Trump lamented that the White Home is utilizing “an outdated, rotten tent that frankly they most likely rented, pay a man thousands and thousands of {dollars} for it regardless that it’s value about $2?” However as Eater famous, it’s truly a reasonably swanky tent:
The tent for the 2009 India dinner, which Vainness Truthful described as “an enormous pavilion, full with an orchestra platform, theatrical lighting, knowledgeable sound system, full heating, satellite tv for pc kitchens, and a dozen chandeliers bedecked with sustainably harvested magnolia branches and ivy,” took six days to assemble and price a reported $85,000.
And the symbolism of this new venture is “monstrous,” as New York’s Chris Bonanos identified: “That Trump will construct a ballroom — essentially the most on-the-nose embodiment of let-them-eat-cake Versailles extravagance — simply as he throws outdated individuals off Medicare and children off meals stamps is as massive a trolling as has ever been trolled.”
So why is Trump actually constructing this ballroom?
Is Trump doing this as a result of he’s a magnanimous builder who needs to share his reward with the American individuals? Or is he only a narcissist seeking to depart his mark on the White Home by reworking it into Mar-a-Lago North? That’s a matter of interpretation. But it surely’s fairly clear that he actually, actually hates partying in a tent.
This put up has been up to date all through.
Extra on Politics
