UPDATE: June, 2026 - As we feared in our original story below, Donald Trump now is expecting Congress to fund his illegal (?) White House ballroom, to the tune of $1 billion. That's $1 billion of taxpayers' money, not Mr. Trump's money or the money he said he would get from his billionaire cronies. Fortunately, there appears to be a great deal of skepticism in Congress with respect to appropriating the funds, so perhaps you and I won't end up having to pay for it.

Our thoughts on the whole situation? If the ballroom was Mr. Trump's vanity project, as many people claim, then let Mr. Trump fund it, as he originally said he would. Just make sure the design passes independent reviews and isn't the huge monstrosity he currently is proposing. Or maybe he and his billionaire buddies should just rebuild the East Wing of the White House if the courts find he acted illegally in tearing it down.

And, in either case, be sure and re-build the East Wing's Jacqueline Kennedy Garden.

November, 2025 - In another example of Donald Trump likely ignoring the law and doing whatever he wants to do, Mr. Trump demolished the East Wing of the White House (after saying he wouldn't) in order to build a huge ballroom so, as many people suspect, he can host his billionaire cronies on the taxpayer's dime.

Only bare ground remains after the East Wing was (illegally?) demolished by Mr. Trump
The reason we say this action likely was illegal is because, as with most federal buildings, major modifications to the White House must go through a legal review process. In the case of Mr. Trump's proposed ballroom:

Construction began without submitting plans to the National Capital Planning Commission, as required by the National Capital Planning Act.
Construction began without submitting an environmental assessment or Environmental Impact Statement, as required under the National Environmental Policy Act.
Congress has not authorized the ballroom construction, which is mandatory for projects on federal property in Washington, D.C., including the White House grounds.
Proceeding without these approvals also infringes on the Property Clause of the Constitution, which reserves Congress the authority over federal property.
In addition, the project appears to fail to respect the standards included in the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation, which guide construction projects affecting historic properties (the proposed ballroom's size, height, and massing, which exceeds the White House in scale, could overwhelm the existing architecture, permanently altering its classic design structure and would diminish its architectural primacy and historical significance.)
Lastly, no president is legally allowed to construct or demolish portions of the White House without providing the public an opportunity to comment.

An old view of the East Wing of the White House.

(In contrast to the unilateral destruction of the East Wing by Mr. Trump, Congressional debate, funding, and oversight occurred when the interior of the White House was gutted and re-built during the Truman administration.)

Mr. Trump has tried to justify his actions by ignoring these legal issues and arguing that a) people have wanted a White House ballroom for 100 years or b) every President has wanted a ballroom for 150 years. While there appears to have been some brief discussions in the past about the need for a large event space (even though there is one, the Andrew Mellon Auditorium, just over a mile from the White House), there is no specific evidence to back up Mr. Trump's assertions on the desire for such a ballroom.

(May 2026 update: This lack of evidence may be the reason Mr. Trump has been changing his talking points recently and using security reasons as the justification for the new ballroom. He still is ignoring the legality of his actions, though.)

The East Wing's Jacqueline Kennedy Garden (Mrs. Kennedy oversaw the garden's redesign in the early 1960's) also was destroyed.
As for the cost of the project, Mr. Trump first stated that the cost would be $200 million and that he would fund it. In subsequent statements, he said it would cost $300 million and then $400 million, adding at that point it would be paid for by his billionaire buddies and corporations.

This approach to outside funding, though, raises significant ethical questions regarding a) whether helping to fund the ballroom is a means of buying access to Mr. Trump and b) will there be some kind of quid pro quo for any donations; i.e., will the donors receive some type of favorable treatment from the Trump administration or, if someone does not donate, will the Trump administration attempt to punish them.

As for the cost of the ballroom continuing to increase, we wouldn't be surprised if, in the end, the taxpayer ends up having to foot the bill.

P.S. - If Mr. Trump is supposed to be this great builder, why did he originally say it would just be an addition to the existing East Wing and why does he keep increasing the cost of the project? Was it not planned properly originally? Or was he just trying to convince people that it really wasn't anything to get upset about by saying it wouldn't cost all that much and he would pay for it?

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