Trump’s controversial ballroom could solve a decades-long problem — and is taking the first formal steps for construction

(CNN) — President Donald Trump’s sprawling new East Wing ballroom project has attracted widespread controversy — but promises to solve a problem identified by first families and their social secretaries on both sides of the aisle for decades.

On Thursday, construction of the planned 90,000-square-foot space will take a key step toward becoming a reality when the White House formally seeks approval from the National Capital Planning Commission, the official planning agency for federal land and buildings.

The White House has told the NCPC that the purpose of the expansion is to “establish a permanent, secure event space that would expand its capacity for official state functions” which “eliminates reliance on temporary tents, temporary support facilities, and associated infrastructure strains, and protects the historic integrity and cultural landscape of the White House and its grounds.”

Anyone involved in presidential party planning has had to contend with the lack of a permanent event space for state dinners and other large-scale official affairs at the White House. East Room capacity is around 200 people. Anything bigger needs to move outdoors.

That has required a tent, which in recent years has cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, and, when the event is over, the replacement and rehabilitation of the White House lawn, which runs in the tens of thousands, according to a source familiar with White House planning across multiple administrations.

The bill has been footed by the State Department as part of the overall state visit budget.

The National Park Service, which has jurisdiction over White House grounds, commissioned studies for various solutions over the years, which were routinely shelved because there was no political appetite to advocate for a new structure — until now.

Whatever the merits of building a larger ballroom, though, the hurried, heavy-handed and opaque dealings around the project have drawn far- reaching criticism, spawning lawsuits, congressional inquiries and public opprobrium.

NCPC officials on Thursday are due to receive an overview of the project that will include no public testimony in the “information presentation” to the commission that’s stacked with Trump loyalists.

No vote will be taken during the meeting, but the presentation will lay the groundwork for a formal approval process that will eventually include a public comment period.

NCPC has reviewed and offered substantive feedback on other projects on White House grounds in the past, most recently including a renovated White House fence and a tennis pavilion overseen by first lady Melania Trump during the president’s first term — but that was before Trump replaced its members.

Now, there are mounting concerns that the 12-member NCPC will rubber-stamp the plans without a thorough review.

What to watch at an ‘information presentation’

The commission said in an overview of the ballroom project that there will be a focus Thursday on “how the public will see and experience the modernization project from surrounding public spaces.”

Among the main questions that could be addressed, according to NCPC, are discussion of how “pedestrian-level views” may or may not change; how the structure connecting the new wing and the Executive Mansion will be designed; how the landscaping will change; and “how perimeter security and associated infrastructure might be enhanced and beautified for the public and guests to the White House and grounds.”

It’s unclear who precisely will be presenting to NCPC, but commissioners are expected to ask questions and provide comments.

Since announcing plans for it last year, Trump has fully embraced his role as developer in chief, and has been personally and intimately involved in the details of the forthcoming space.

But controversy has abounded. He shocked many with the complete demolition of the East Wing, a space occupied by first ladies for decades, which took place with little warning or consultation.

The stated price, which Trump had said would be fully funded by private donations, has steadily crept up from $200 million to $300 million to $400 million since July.

Trump replaced the original architect, James McCrery, amid disputes over the ballroom’s scale, bringing on Shalom Baranes Associates in December. Experts have warned that that the 90,000 square feet he envisions could dwarf the White House Executive Mansion, which is a bit over half that size at 55,000 square feet.

The “information presentation” to the NCPC taking place Thursday would normally happen very early in a project’s process – before ground is broken, before anything is demolished, while multiple options are still being considered.

“The critical difference is, they tend to be looking at alternatives. It’s an early sussing-out of alternatives. You’ll show a couple of project approaches – which would you find more favorable? That’s typically the kind of feedback that the Commission gives at that point,” said Bryan Clark Green, an architectural historian, historic preservationist and educator who was appointed to NCPC by then-President Joe Biden.

Trump replaced Green on the commission last July with the current deputy chief of staff James Blair, who has a background in finance and politics.

With the East Wing fully dismantled and below-grade work already underway, the ballroom, Green said, is at a “very different stage of work” than other projects at the information presentation phase.

“All of your arguments about all the things that would normally restrain you in a conversation about alternatives, they’re gone. They’re swept away. This is not how the process works. It’s not supposed to be like this,” he said.

An FAQ about the project posted to NCPC’s website says that the commission “does not review the demolition of buildings or general site preparation” and “below-grade improvements are not subject to NCPC review” — a position Green dismissed as laughable.

“Of course the foundations are critical to the size and scale of the building,” he said.

‘A foregone conclusion’

Trump appointed a trio of political loyalists to the commission last year, installing White House staff secretary Will Scharf as its chairman, Office of Management and Budget official Stuart Levenbach as vice chairman, and Blair as commissioner. Their appointments mark a departure from prior presidential appointees, who have traditionally had substantive expertise in architecture, historic preservation, or urban planning.

The commission also includes Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, and House Oversight Chairman James Comer.

Phil Mendelson, chairman of the Council of the District of Columbia and an ex-officio member of the commission, told CNN that he expects the project to be fast-tracked by the president’s allies to please their boss.

“What I’m concerned about is that so much has happened without any review, which I think is inappropriate, and that this is going to be fast-tracked with a lot of pressure to just approve what the White House wants without any planning thought,” Mendelson said.

He added: “I have seen project after project after project where the refinement as a result of feedback leads to a better result. And I’m concerned that the pressure will be to short-circuit that. … That’s part of what worries me, that … they don’t really care what NCPC thinks. They just want to go through the steps. They’ve got the votes, design be damned.”

“It’s a foregone conclusion” that NCPC will approve the ballroom, Green predicted, but suggested it was still possible that any critics on the commission could keep their powder dry until the voting process.

What we know about the ballroom

The White House has provided scant information about the ballroom design, announcing the start of construction in a July 31 press release that included white renderings of the massive, classically designed structure.

Documents filed by the Trump administration last month provided some new details on the timeline and scope of the project, which it says will be completed in “summer 2028” – months before Trump leaves office.

The demolition phase of the project was expected to conclude in December, according to a sworn declaration from National Park Service liaison John Stanwich. This month, construction crews will work on footings and below-grade structural concrete in the East Colonnade area. In February, similar work will proceed in the East Wing area.

The iconic East Colonnade will be rebuilt and reimagined with an “enclosed second story,” according to the National Park Service. There will be an entrance from the new colonnade into the East Room, as well as to the ground floor of the Executive Mansion.

The filings also suggest the new ballroom will be “55 feet tall.”

An environmental assessment from NPS also offered insight into other options that were considered before the East Wing was destroyed. Options that preserved the entire East Wing and placed the new ballroom structure south of the existing complex were considered, but ultimately it was decided that the new ballroom needed to be adjacent to the Executive Mansion with enclosed access, it said.

In a prior NCPC process, Green said, questions about those alternatives would have been a major topic for discussion: “Could this function be accomplished in a building that is more appropriate in scale to the White House? When is the last time you had a seated dinner for 1,000? What’s the size that you would actually need? Could you accomplish this function in a way that the building is lower down in the view shed? Could the footprint be smaller?”

Oversight and scrutiny

The project has already prompted multiple lawsuits and questions from Capitol Hill.

Last month, the nation’s top historic preservation group sued the Trump administration to block construction on the project, claiming the White House has been unlawfully carrying out the construction because Trump hasn’t gotten approval from Congress or submitted his plans to the NCPC and the Commission of Fine Arts, another oversight board, for review. In December, a federal judge indicated he wouldn’t order the work to be halted, but left open the possibility he could intervene at a later time.

And on Wednesday, the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization, a nonprofit that works to prevent asbestos exposure, filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration. The group is seeking a court order to compel the release of records related to the demolition and asbestos risks that could have harmed workers and possibly even the public.

Numerous lawmakers and committees on Capitol Hill are scrutinizing the project, investigating the funding by private donors, transparency and the approval process.

Multiple Democratic sources on Capitol Hill told CNN that they are currently looking for new avenues for their investigative work over the East Wing renovations. They are limited without subpoena power in the minority, but are actively brainstorming new ways to get information despite resistance from the White House.

Yet for all the concerns about the design and its process, the new ballroom construction will solve a practical problem that has befuddled White House hosts and their guests for years: no more high heels ruined from soggy walks to a tent across a rainy South Lawn; the end of auxiliary refrigerators and grills set up by the press briefing room for lack of sufficient kitchen space; and a permanent, indoor space for a really big party.

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