Planning commission approves Trump’s White House ballroom project
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US President Donald Trump talking to members of the media on March 29, aboard Air Force One, while holding up renderings of the planned White House ballroom.
PHOTO: REUTERS
DeeperDive is a beta AI feature. Refer to full articles for the facts.
- The National Capital Planning Commission approved Trump's White House ballroom project, despite a judge's ruling needing Congress approval.
- Commission chair Will Scharf, Trump's former lawyer, supported the US$500 million ballroom as a "national treasure".
- Critics, including protesters, oppose the project's size and Trump's alterations, calling it rushed and legally vulnerable.
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WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump’s White House ballroom project was approved by Washington planning authorities on April 2, two days after a judge ruled work cannot proceed without Congress’ approval.
The National Capital Planning Commission, which is chaired by one of Mr Trump’s former lawyers, deliberated and then voted to approve the “East Wing Modernisation Project”.
The Republican president says the US$400 million (S$500 million), 8,400sq m ballroom will be a privately financed defining addition to the White House and a lasting symbol of his presidency.
“I am honoured to be the first President to finally get this much-needed project, which is on time and under budget, underway,” Mr Trump said in a post on his social media platform Truth Social.
The ballroom is part of Mr Trump’s broader push to reshape Washington’s monumental core, which also includes plans for a 76m arch and a multi-year renovation of the Kennedy Centre performing arts complex.
He has also ripped out and replaced the White House Rose Garden and added a wide array of gilding to the Oval Office.
“I believe that, in time, this ballroom will be considered every bit as much of a national treasure as the other key components of the White House,” said Mr Will Scharf, who chairs the commission and is Mr Trump’s former personal lawyer.
Mr Scharf, who was appointed by Mr Trump, said that many of the negative comments the commission had received on the project dealt with issues beyond its scope, including negative comments on the private funding of the ballroom, the demolition process and opinions about Mr Trump.
Chairman Will Scharf (far right) is seen on April 2, during the National Capital Planning Commission’s meeting to vote on the so-called East Wing Modernization Project.
PHOTO: EPA
‘Just too large’
Mr Phil Mendelson, a member of the commission and chairman of the Council of the District of Columbia, criticised the speed of the process, however, saying it was rushed.
“I think that we can have a ballroom. To me that’s not the issue,” he said. “It’s just too large. And if we can get the same programme, but not as tall, not competing in height with the main structure, and a condensed footprint, we are better for that.”
Over a dozen protesters gathered outside the commission building ahead of the vote, holding signs that read, “Hands off the people’s house”, among other messages, and displaying a stack of boxes they said contained 35,000 comments from the public, with 97 per cent of them against the project.
Protesters gathered outside the commission building ahead of the vote.
PHOTO: EPA
“The American people have weighed in on this project, and they hate it,” Mr Jon Golinger, democracy advocate with Public Citizen, said as he criticised Mr Trump over the project.
“He needs to put the White House back the way the people gave it to him.”
He said a vote to approve the project could be legally vulnerable to challenge.
The commission is one of two federal bodies, along with the US Commission of Fine Arts, assigned a role in overseeing key DC-area building projects.
The Justice Department appealed the March 31 ruling that the president cannot construct his planned ballroom on the site of the White House’s demolished East Wing without approval from Congress.
The federal judge in the case granted a request for a preliminary injunction by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, a nonprofit organisation that brought a lawsuit alleging Mr Trump exceeded his authority when he razed the historic East Wing and launched construction on the new building. REUTERS
