White House Ballroom Plans Face Legal Hurdles
President Trump is pushing for a new ballroom in the White House that would cost roughly $400 million and span 90,000 square feet.
Two days after a judge ruled the project cannot proceed without congressional approval, Washington’s planning commission will vote on it Thursday.
The National Capital Planning Commission—led by Trump’s former lawyer Will Scharf—will decide whether to approve the “East Wing Modernization Project.”
Trump frames the ballroom as a private investment that will become “a lasting symbol of his presidency.”
Other Ambitious Plans
- A 250‑foot arch
- Renovations of the Kennedy Center
- Removal of the White House Rose Garden and addition of gold trim to the Oval Office
The commission is one of two federal bodies overseeing major projects in Washington, D.C.; the other is the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts. Trump has appointed members to both groups, giving him influence over decisions that affect the capital’s historic sites.
Legal Hurdles
The Justice Department has appealed a ruling that Trump cannot build on the former East Wing site without congressional approval. The judge had granted an injunction for the National Trust for Historic Preservation, a nonprofit that sued over the demolition of the historic wing.
