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White House State Ballroom

Coordinates: 38°53′51.2″N 77°2′8.4″W / 38.897556°N 77.035667°W / 38.897556; -77.035667
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

An interpretation of the expansion to the East Wing based on renderings from July 31[1]

The White House State Ballroom is an expansion to the East Wing of the White House under construction as of September 2025, in Washington, D.C. Announced on July 31, 2025, the expansion is planned to result in a 90,000-square-foot (8,360 m2) venue with a seating capacity of approximately 900 people. According to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, the project will be privately funded by President Donald Trump and private donors, with an estimated cost of $200 million. Trump announced that construction began in September 2025, and it is expected to finish before his term ends in 2029.

Background

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At present formal events at the White House are held in the East Room, which has a seating capacity of 200 people or in tents specially constructed on the White House grounds for state dinners.[2] Trump described the tents used for events as "not a pretty sight".[2]

During Barack Obama's first term in office, at least as early as 2010, then-private citizen Trump spoke to senior advisor David Axelrod and expressed a desire to build a ballroom on White House grounds.[3][4] In 2016, during the second term of the presidency of Barack Obama, then-candidate Trump offered to pay $100 million to fund a ballroom at the White House but was rejected.[2][5]

Trump has said that there has "never been a President that's good at ballrooms" and that he was "good at building things". He has said that he could take the ballroom of his Trump Turnberry golf club " ... drop it right down there, and it would be beautiful".[2]

Cost and construction

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Plans for the ballroom were announced by the White House on July 31, 2025.[2] The construction of the ballroom is estimated to be $200 million, with the cost met by President Donald Trump and several anonymous private donors.[6][2] Construction began in September 2025[7] and is expected to finish before Trump's term ends in 2029.[8][9][10] The East Wing of the White House will be "modernized" at the same time as the ballroom is constructed.[2]

BBC News described the proposed interior as being "lavish ... including chandeliers and ornate columns".[2] The announcement stated that the project will be an addition of 90,000 sq ft (8,360 sq m); despite interpretations that this referred to the size of the ballroom itself, an analysis based on released renderings of the plans suggested that this would be impossible and the 90,000 sq ft referred to the full floor area of the planned new East Wing, with the ballroom's floor area being closer to 25,000 sq ft (2,300 m2).[11] Critics of the project described the ornamentation as out of touch, ostentatious, and as fitting in with Trump's larger-scale renovations of the White House with gold. The Hill described the timing of the renovations as poor, coming in amidst poor jobs reports and concerns over Trump's tariffs on the greater economy.[12]

Ethics experts cited concern over the private funding of the renovation and possible conflicts of interest and attempts by donors to influence the president, and the White House did not answer whether a competitive bidding process was followed.[13]

Alphabet donated $22 million towards construction as part of a settlement for a lawsuit Trump filed in 2021 accusing the company of violating his First Amendment rights.[14]

Experts interviewed by The New York Times described the proposed timetable for completion before 2029 as "optimistic". It cited concerns and doubt among historians and preservationists that the construction would focus on preservation and noted that the White House was exempt from the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966. The building is instead overseen by non-binding recommendations of the Committee for the Preservation of the White House.[15]

On August 10, 2025, The Washington Post reported that the project had not yet been submitted for review to the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) as required by federal law, and that such approvals often took years. The administration claimed that a 1964 executive order allowed the president to bypass the commission, but after a Post reporter pointed out the legal requirement, the White House said the commission "will be a part of that process at the appropriate time."[16]

On September 12, 2025, Trump announced that construction had begun on the ballroom.[17] On September 4, the NCPC had said that plans for the ballroom were still unsubmitted and clarified that its approval process is only required for building, not demolition or site preparation work.[18] Initially expected to seat 650, in September Trump said this had been revised upward to 900.[19]

References

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  1. ^ Bickerton, James; Feng, John (August 1, 2025). "Map, images show how Trump's golden ballroom will change White House". Newsweek. Retrieved August 4, 2025.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Debusmann Jr, Bernd (August 1, 2025). "White House unveils plans for new $200m ballroom". BBC News. Retrieved September 17, 2025.
  3. ^ "A look at Trump's effort to reshape the White House in his image". PBS News. August 1, 2025. Retrieved August 3, 2025.
  4. ^ "Candidate Trump had plenty of state dinner suggestions. President Trump hasn't taken them". NBC News. April 24, 2018. Retrieved August 3, 2025.
  5. ^ "White House Laughs Off Trump's Proposal to Build a $100M Ballroom". ABC News. February 1, 2016. Retrieved July 31, 2025.
  6. ^ Zolan Kanno-Youngs (July 31, 2025). "White House Unveils Plan for Enormous Ballroom Long Sought by Trump". The New York Times. Retrieved July 31, 2025.
  7. ^ "Trump starts construction on long-held dream: A White House ballroom". The Washington Post. September 15, 2025. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved October 3, 2025.
  8. ^ "The White House Announces White House Ballroom Construction to Begin". The White House. July 31, 2025. Retrieved July 31, 2025.
  9. ^ "90,000-square-foot ballroom to be constructed in White House's East Wing". www.cbsnews.com. July 31, 2025. Retrieved July 31, 2025.
  10. ^ "White House to build $200 million state ballroom; construction begins September, aims to address space constraints". The Times of India. August 1, 2025. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved July 31, 2025.
  11. ^ Crosbie, Michael J. (August 18, 2025). "Trump's White House Ballroom Drawings and Numbers Just Don't Add Up". CommonEdge. Retrieved August 19, 2025.
  12. ^ Gangitano, Alex; Mastrangelo, Dominick (August 2, 2025). "Trump's plan for White House ballroom sparks outrage from his critics". The Hill. Retrieved August 3, 2025.
  13. ^ Kanno-Youngs, Zolan (July 31, 2025). "White House Unveils Plan for $200 Million Ballroom, Trump's Long-Sought Imprint". The New York Times. Retrieved August 3, 2025.
  14. ^ Nguyen, Tina (October 3, 2025). "Trump rolled YouTube into paying $22 million for his ballroom". The Verge. Retrieved October 4, 2025.
  15. ^ Ahn, Ashley (August 3, 2025). "Experts Raise Concerns Over Trump's White House Ballroom Renovation Plans". The New York Times. Retrieved August 3, 2025.
  16. ^ Edwards, Jonathan (August 10, 2025). "Trump is rushing to build his ballroom. A review process could take years". The Washington Post. Retrieved August 10, 2025.
  17. ^ Raposas, Rachel (September 12, 2025). "Donald Trump Says Construction Has Begun on Massive New White House Ballroom". People.
  18. ^ "Demolition for new White House ballroom doesn't need approval, Trump-appointed commission head says". AP News. September 4, 2025. Retrieved September 13, 2025.
  19. ^ Nicholas, Peter (September 13, 2025). "Trump says the new White House ballroom will be 'a little bigger' than initially planned". NBC News. Retrieved September 17, 2025.

38°53′51.2″N 77°2′8.4″W / 38.897556°N 77.035667°W / 38.897556; -77.035667

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