Trump's week in review: Higher tariffs and $200M White House ballroom
3. Karoline Leavitt announces construction of a new White House ballroom
The White House announced plans on Thursday to construct a 90,000-square-foot White House State Ballroom with a seating capacity of 650 people. The project, which is expected to cost about $200 million, is slated to begin in September and the new structure is scheduled for completion “long before the end of President Trump’s term” in January 2029.
The cost of the new structure, which will maintain the same architectural heritage and theme of the existing White House while maintaining a “substantial” separation from the main building, will be paid for by Trump and “patriot donors.” It will be located where the East Wing of the White House now stands.
The White House cited a lack of event space for large crowds at the White House as the rationale behind the construction of the new ballroom, contrasting the capacity of the future state ballroom with the 200-person occupancy limit of the White House East Room and highlighting the need to “install a large and unsightly tent” whenever it seeks to host major functions.
McCrery Architects, led by Jim McCrery, a professor at The Catholic University of America and a former member of the U.S. Commission on Fine Arts, will serve as the lead architect for the project. Construction will be headed by Clark Construction and AECOM will lead the engineering aspect of the project.
“President Trump is a builder at heart and has an extraordinary eye for detail. The President and the Trump White House are fully committed to working with the appropriate organizations to preserve the special history of the White House while building a beautiful ballroom that can be enjoyed by future Administrations and generations of Americans to come,” said White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles.
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
