New renderings released this week provide the most detailed vision yet of Donald Trump’s proposed $400m White House ballroom addition. The images, submitted by the project’s architects and released on Friday by the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC), depict a vast sprawling structure of around 90,000 sq ft, standing level with the White House mansion.
The renderings appear in a 28-page document titled “East Wing Modernization” dated 11 February, submitted ahead of a 5 March NCPC hearing. Trump has appointed several allies to the NCPC and the Commission of Fine Arts, which will review the plans. According to CNN, the renderings were removed from the NCPC website shortly after being uploaded; the commission did not respond to requests for comment.
The project has sparked outcry since October, when Trump began demolishing the East Wing before construction plans had been submitted to oversight bodies. In December, the National Trust for Historic Preservation filed a federal lawsuit seeking to block construction, arguing the administration violated laws by tearing parts of the White House without review. Trump also replaced the original architect with Shalom Baranes Associates.
The ballroom is being financed by private donors and large corporations including Meta, Apple, Amazon, Lockheed Martin, Microsoft, Palantir Technologies, Google and Comcast. Trump shared two renderings on social media, calling it “the finest Ballroom ever built” and claiming it is “on budget, and ahead of schedule!”
In a memo to the NCPC, White House Office of Administration director Joshua Fisher defended the demolition, stating it provided the most effective solution to longstanding issues. He said preservationists advised on and documented the removal of historical elements, and that significant items such as the East Wing cornerstone, movie theatre furniture, and wood panelling have been preserved, with some to be integrated into the new structure.
