White House begins demolishing East Wing facade to build Trump’s ballroom

[Goonie]

Off cause after finishing his ballroom he'll have to demolish and rebuild the rest just to make it proportional.

 

[JosephZ]

Off cause after finishing his ballroom he'll have to demolish and rebuild the rest just to make it proportional.

Attaching a 90,000 square foot structure to a 55,000 square foot main house is visually unbalanced and certainly not attractive. I'm not sure how anyone sees this move as an improvement.

 

[comana]

People do it all the time. It's called a "donation" (dow·nay·shn)


Because the money hasn't come in yet.

Doesn’t seem wise to start the project before it is funded. I guess the tax payers will just be expected to pick up the tab if Trump can’t pay it.

 

[comana]

Attaching a 90,000 square foot structure to a 55,000 square foot main house is visually unbalanced and certainly not attractive. I'm not sure how anyone sees this move as an improvement.

View attachment 371961

Also, why does a ballroom need to be nearly twice the size of the main structure? Not to mention the cost of an event fill to capacity.

 

[Goonie]

Attaching a 90,000 square foot structure to a 55,000 square foot main house is visually unbalanced and certainly not attractive. I'm not sure how anyone sees this move as an improvement.

View attachment 371961

One can see demolishing and rebuilding the west wing is almost inevitable.

 

[durangodawood]

Attaching a 90,000 square foot structure to a 55,000 square foot main house is visually unbalanced and certainly not attractive. I'm not sure how anyone sees this move as an improvement.

View attachment 371961

That little building in the middle needs to be replaced with something suitably majestic.

 

[iluvatar5150]

Remember when conservatives got all bent out of shape over the “erasing of history” that was the removal of confederate statues? lol

Also, why does a ballroom need to be nearly twice the size of the main structure? Not to mention the cost of an event fill to capacity.

Because the main structure isn't very big? It's 55,000 square feet, across three floors, which may be big for a house, but is pretty modest for any sort of office building. I've never been inside, but I've walked by several times and, while it looks nice, it's size is pretty underwhelming. Based on what I could see in the diagrams Trump held up, they're planning to be able to seat 1,080 people, which, again, is pretty big for a private function, but modest for any sort of corporate event, much less something involving heads of state. My office Christmas party could probably get that big if everybody showed up.

I suspect the drawings make this look dumber and more disproportionate than it will wind up looking in real life. IRL, the landscaping blocks your view of most of the East and West Wings. These are the best StreetView shots I could get of the old East Wing:

From the south side, you almost can't see it at all because of the terrain and trees. Also, the Treasury Building across the street is considerably larger than even the new ballroom, so I think this will wind up being a nothingburger visually.

 

[Hans Blaster]

People do it all the time. It's called a "donation" (dow·nay·shn)


Because the money hasn't come in yet.

He started construction without financing in place? What a maroon.

 

[RocksInMyHead]

I think this will wind up being a nothingburger visually.

Yeah, my main concerns stem from Trump's involvement (his aesthetic tastes, the solicitation of private funding and Trump's history of misusing funds) and the seemingly rushed process that appears to have skipped the permitting process entirely. Given that the plans have changed substantially from when it was first announced (increase in size, changing from an East Wing addition to a full replacement of the East Wing), it seems unlikely that the plans have been fully vetted and approved.

 

[iluvatar5150]

Yeah, my main concerns stem from Trump's involvement (his aesthetic tastes, the solicitation of private funding and Trump's history of misusing funds) and the seemingly rushed process that appears to have skipped the permitting process entirely. Given that the plans have changed substantially from when it was first announced (increase in size, changing from an East Wing addition to a full replacement of the East Wing), it seems unlikely that the plans have been fully vetted and approved.

Oh sure. I wouldn't be surprised if the funding never materialized and he left office with it half-finished and stalled, or just a big hole in the ground.

 

[DaisyDay]

You said you were concerned about "money laundering" in post #48 - as in illegally acquired money being used to build the ballroom, disguised as innocent, private donations.

That's right. Look at the history of these private donations. It is extremely suspicious for them to be secret.

...Now you say verifying the legality of the donations is "simple oversight". What a joke.

It is simple oversight. Not a joke at all.

It would be extremely difficult (not simple at all) to ask private donors on the origins of the funds they donated, just to check if they were legally earned or not. It seems way overboard. But that *is* the definition of money laundering, unless you meant something else.

Why would it be difficult to know who the donors are and how much they contribute? What happened to "the most transparent administration in history" ?

 

[wing2000]

Also, why does a ballroom need to be nearly twice the size of the main structure? Not to mention the cost of an event fill to capacity.

...because Trump wants seating for 1,000 of the one percenters....

 

[BPPLEE]

President Barack Obama's renovations to the White House included functional updates and interior design projects, some privately funded
. The changes were coordinated with First Lady Michelle Obama and were guided by designer Michael S. Smith.
Key renovations during the Obama administration:

• Tennis/Basketball Court: In 2009, a tennis court on the South Lawn was resurfaced and adapted for both tennis and basketball. As an avid basketball fan, Obama frequently used the court with aides and guests.
• White House Kitchen Garden:First Lady Michelle Obama spearheaded the addition of the Kitchen Garden on the South Lawn to promote healthy eating.
• State Dining Room: A three-year refurbishment was completed in 2015. Updates included:
  • A custom-woven rug with maple leaf and wreath motifs.
  • Striped silk window treatments in peacock blue and ecru.
  • New mahogany chairs inspired by historical pieces.
• Oval Office: The Oval Office was redecorated with contemporary design elements, including a new rug featuring quotes from Martin Luther King Jr., Theodore Roosevelt, and other American figures.
• Art and Decor: The Obamas brought in a significant number of contemporary art pieces on loan from museums. The collection included works by artists such as Glenn Ligon, Sean Scully, and Jasper Johns.
• Budget-Conscious Approach:The Obamas opted not to use the $100,000 in taxpayer money typically allocated for redecorating and instead used their own funds. They also borrowed art from museums and refurbished existing pieces to control costs.
• Source; Google

 

[wing2000]

President Barack Obama's renovations to the White House included functional updates and interior design projects, some privately funded
. The changes were coordinated with First Lady Michelle Obama and were guided by designer Michael S. Smith.
Key renovations during the Obama administration:

• Tennis/Basketball Court: In 2009, a tennis court on the South Lawn was resurfaced and adapted for both tennis and basketball. As an avid basketball fan, Obama frequently used the court with aides and guests.
• White House Kitchen Garden:First Lady Michelle Obama spearheaded the addition of the Kitchen Garden on the South Lawn to promote healthy eating.
• State Dining Room: A three-year refurbishment was completed in 2015. Updates included:
  • A custom-woven rug with maple leaf and wreath motifs.
  • Striped silk window treatments in peacock blue and ecru.
  • New mahogany chairs inspired by historical pieces.
• Oval Office: The Oval Office was redecorated with contemporary design elements, including a new rug featuring quotes from Martin Luther King Jr., Theodore Roosevelt, and other American figures.
• Art and Decor: The Obamas brought in a significant number of contemporary art pieces on loan from museums. The collection included works by artists such as Glenn Ligon, Sean Scully, and Jasper Johns.
• Budget-Conscious Approach:The Obamas opted not to use the $100,000 in taxpayer money typically allocated for redecorating and instead used their own funds. They also borrowed art from museums and refurbished existing pieces to control costs.
• Source; Google

Suggest a more apt comparison would be the renovations made by Harry Truman.

"The White House had fallen into disrepair as engineers deemed the entire second floor unsafe and the interior load-bearing walls structurally unsound. Truman and his family moved out of the White House while it was essentially gutted. The four-year, $5.7 million project (which would be about $69 million today) included a new concrete foundation, a new steel skeleton and two new subbasement levels."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2025/white-house-trump-ballroom-construction-history/?itid=hp-top-table-main_p001_f003

I understand the addition of the "Truman Balcony" was controversial at the time it was added. However, I'm not aware of any President removing an entire section of the White House.

 

[Chesterton]

...(increase in size, changing from an East Wing addition to a full replacement of the East Wing), it seems unlikely that the plans have been fully vetted and approved.

I don't know about the size, but the first announcement about this said they were going "to replace the current East Wing"

 

[BPPLEE]

This actually was tax payer money.

 

[GoldenBoy89]

This actually was tax payer money.

Doesn’t that mean this construction had to go through Congress to approve taxpayer funding?

 

[JosephZ]

This actually was tax payer money.

That picture was taken during the Truman administration.

 

[BPPLEE]

That picture is from the Truman administration.

Wrong President then

 

[iluvatar5150]

This actually was tax payer money.

lol, do you believe everything you read on Twitter?

Obama's basketball court was not indoors. It consisted of adding lines and hoops to an existing tennis court on the south lawn, in 2009.

Your black and photo (from 2009?) shows demo on the West Wing with what looks like a steam powered excavator in the bottom right.

Image doesn't show White House after Obama 'wrecked' it to add basketball court

Obama, a keen basketball player, adapted an existing outdoor tennis court at the White House for basketball by adding hoops and lines.

www.snopes.com

No, that photo is most likely from FDR's work in 1934.