White House Ballroom Approved

- The project is estimated to cost between $250 million and $400 million, which the White House says will be funded by private donors, including President Trump himself. - The proposed 90,000-square-foot structure is designed to host up to 1,000 guests, which would eliminate the long-standing practice of using temporary tents on the South Lawn for state dinners and other large functions. - The National Trust for Historic Preservation filed a federal lawsuit in December 2025 seeking to halt the project, arguing that the administration violated federal law by proceeding without required environmental and historical reviews or congressional approval. - In October 2025, President Trump fired all six sitting members of the Commission of Fine Arts, which had lacked a quorum to vote. He appointed a new slate of commissioners in January 2026, including his 26-year-old executive assistant, enabling the vote to proceed. - The commission's 6-0 approval combined votes on the project's concept and final design into a single meeting, an unusually accelerated process for a project of this scale. The seventh commissioner, the project's initial architect, recused himself. - The now-demolished East Wing was first constructed in 1902 under President Theodore Roosevelt and later expanded in 1942 to include a bomb shelter. - The next procedural step is a review and vote by the National Capital Planning Commission, scheduled for March 5. This commission has federal planning authorization over the project, and its approval is required for above-grade construction to begin. - Public polling has shown significant opposition to the project, with one survey indicating 61% of Americans disapprove of the plan to tear down the East Wing for the new ballroom.