The White House on Thursday announced that construction on a $200 million ballroom will begin in September and be ready for entertaining before President Donald Trump‘s term ends in early 2029.
It will be the latest change introduced to what’s known as the “people’s house” since the Republican president returned to office in January. It also will be the first structural change to the Executive Mansion since the addition of the Truman balcony several decades ago.
Trump has substantially redecorated the Oval Office by adding golden flourishes, cherubs and other items and installed massive flagpoles to fly the American flag on the north and south lawns. Workers are currently finishing a project to replace the lawn in the Rose Garden with stone.
Trump for months has been promising to build a ballroom, saying the White House doesn’t have enough space to hold large events and he does not like the idea of hosting heads of state and other guests in tents on the lawn, as past administrations have done for the hundreds of guests who attend state dinners. The East Room, the largest room in the the White House, can accommodate about 200 people.
The 90,000-square-foot ballroom announced Thursday will be built where the East Wing currently sits and have a seated capacity of 650 people. The East Wing is home to several offices, including the first lady’s, and those offices will be relocated during construction.
“President Trump is a builder at heart and has an extraordinary eye for detail,” White House chief of staff Susie Wiles said in a statement.
She said the president and his 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.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday at her briefing that Trump and other donors have committed to raising the approximately $200 million in construction costs.
She did not name any of the other donors.
Renderings of what the future ballroom will look like were posted on the White House website.
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