Trump waltzes into ballroom controversy with '2 geniuses' and an East Wing demolition

WASHINGTON - Standing at a podium last week in the East Room, President Donald Trump talked about two men who had advised him about zoning permits for his long-desired White House ballroom.

At that Oct. 15 dinner, ordered up to thank private donors to the project, America’s 45th and 47th president described the men as “these two geniuses” who were “like movie stars.” Trump recalled them telling him that he could start the process immediately for the project “near” the East Wing. No permits or reviews were needed.

A second-generation real estate businessman, Trump explained that he was well-versed with the “brutal” process of getting zoning approvals but couldn’t believe his ears that he could move with such speed at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

“I said, ‘how long would it take? They said, ‘Sir, you can start tonight. You have zero zoning conditions. You have no approvals.”” Trump said. “I said, ‘you gotta be kidding.’ He said, ‘Sir, this is the White House. You’re the president of the United States. You can do anything you want.’”

The White House did not respond to a question from USA Today seeking the identity of the two men - but his faith in them may come back to haunt him. It’s already happening.

Trump in July: Ballroom construction will not touch the East Wing

When the White House first released the plans for the ballroom on July 31, Trump told reporters that the 90,000-square-foot addition would be “built over on the east side and it will be beautiful.”

“It’ll have views of the Washington Monument. It won’t interfere with the current building,” he said. “It’ll be near it but not touching it and pay total respect to the existing building, which I’m the biggest fan of.”

Less than three months later, bulldozers had removed the entire East Wing of the White House. The construction was no longer “near” the part of the building that historically housed the first lady’s offices - as Trump had initially described the project.

The demolition was in full swing. So was the backlash.

Hillary Clinton: ‘It’s not his house. It’s your house’

On Oct. 21, when pictures from the demolition site began circulating, a chorus of voices, including former first lady Hillary Clinton, expressed outrage as the nation’s preeminent historical structure stood gutted.

Clinton posted a picture of the torn-down façade with the caption on X: “lt’s not his house. It’s your house. And he’s destroying it.”

The National Trust for Historic Places urged the administration and the National Park Service to pause demolition until plans for the proposed ballroom “go through the legally required public review processes, including consultation and review by the National Capital Planning Commission and the Commission of Fine Arts,” both of which it said have authority to review new construction at the White House.

Carol Quillen, the National Trust’s president and CEO, in a letter to the NCPC, the National Park Service, and the Commission of Fine Arts, wrote that the group acknowledges the utility of a larger White House footprint. But she said it remained concerned about the size of the building addition.

The 90,000 square feet of new construction “will overwhelm the White House itself,” which is 55,000 square feet, Quillen wrote, adding: “(The addition) may also permanently disrupt the carefully balanced classical design of the White House with its two smaller, and lower, East and West Wings.”

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) pointed to timing of the project, which broke ground on Day 21 of the government shutdown that has left hundreds of thousands of people working without pay.

“Oh you’re trying to say the cost of living is skyrocketing?,” Warren wrote on X. “Donald Trump can’t hear you over the sound of bulldozers demolishing a wing of the White House to build a new grand ballroom.”

Trump said the sound of construction was music to his ears.

A Trump ballroom commences with ‘no approvals’

Trump said he had been advised that no reviews of the project were needed.

But White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles in a statement unveiling the project on July 31 said the “president and the Trump White House are fully committed to working with the appropriate organizations to preserving 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.”

Her comment contrasts with a congressional aide familiar with the process who told USA Today that no reviews had been submitted to be approved by the National Capital Planning Commission, which provides building and zoning advice to Washington, DC, and approves various federal construction plans.

Asked for a response, a White House official told USA Today that the NCPC does not have jurisdiction over demolition, only construction. Therefore, the official said approval from the NCPC was not required or needed for demolition.

As for the construction, the White House will “soon” seek approval from the NCPC, the spokesperson told USA Today on Oct.22.

On the question of why the facade had been demolished after the president had said the ballroom construction would not touch the East Wing, the official said the scope and size of the project was “always subject to vary” as the “process developed.”

‘Compliments of a man known as Donald J. Trump’

Trump for years and across multiple administrations had pitched the idea for a ballroom. He also had always said he’d finance the project.

“Just inspected the site of the new Ballroom that will be built, compliments of a man known as Donald J. Trump, at the White House,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on June 6. “For 150 years, Presidents, and many others, have wanted a beautiful Ballroom, but it never got built because nobody previously had any knowledge or experience in doing such things.”

But that plan changed, too.

In the intervening months, Trump said many private donors had lined up to pay for the $250 million project.

At the Oct. 15 dinner, Trump announced that the project had been fully financed. The donors included some of the biggest American corporations, including those in the defense and tech industries with business before the government.

Some of them include Palantir, Lockheed Martin, Amazon, Google’s parent company Alphabet and Meta.

“So many of you have been really, really generous,” Trump said to the donors at the dinner. “A couple of you, here saying, sir, would $25 million be appropriate? I said, I will take it.”

While the president may not be using taxpayer funds for the project, the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, criticized Trump’s timing in the middle of a government shutdown.

“His priorities are totally absurd. He should be negotiating with Democrats every single day until government is open and families are saved from financial ruin by extending the Affordable Care Act tax credits,” said Murray. “He’s focused on tearing down history to build a ballroom when millions of families will go uninsured.”

New details on the ballroom plans - bullet proof glass

Trump has said for years that the East Room, the biggest room in the White House, is too cramped for large gatherings. Often, state dinners are moved to outdoor tents to accommodate the guests.

“When it rains, it’s a disaster. And the tent’s a hundred yards. That’s more than a football field away from the main entrance,” he said on Oct.15. “It’s not a pretty sight. The women with their lovely evening gowns, all of their hair all done and they’re a mess by the time they get there.”

When Trump recently paved over the lawn of the Rose Garden, he said he was doing it in the service of women whose high heels are known to get stuck in the mud.

Trump has been on a renovation frenzy from the time he entered the White House for a second term in January.

He bathed the Oval Office in gold, added a “Presidential Walk of Fame” display along the South Colonnade featuring portraits of past presidents and proposed construction of a new arch across from the Lincoln Memorial.

As for the ballroom plan, Trump has said glass on the building would be bulletproof. It also would seat 999 people, big enough, he said for a “presidential inauguration.”

And the target date for completion? By January of 2029, when Trump’s second term in the White House will be over and the 48th president of the United States takes office.