President Donald Trump has shared new renderings of the exterior of his White House ballroom project. Trump posted the new image on Tuesday on Truth Social. “This beautiful building will be, when complete, the much anticipated White House Ballroom — The Greatest of its kind ever built,” he said.
The rendering is from the vantage of the U.S. Treasury building directly across the street. Trump said the new structure “replaces the very small, dilapidated, and rebuilt many times, East Wing, with a magnificent New East Wing, consisting of a glorious Ballroom that has been asked for by Presidents for over 150 years.”
White House Ballroom Plans
The White House first announced plans to build a new, 90,000-square-foot ballroom in July 2025. It said the $200 million project would be built on the site of the current East Wing and would be “substantially separated from the main building of the White House.” But “it’s theme and architectural heritage will be almost identical.” It said Trump and other donors would donate the funds for the project.
In September, the White House announced that the ballroom’s scale was expanding. It would now have 40% more capacity than originally planned, with a new projected cost of $300 million.
Construction began in October, and the entire East Wing was demolished. Built in 1902, the East Wing historically housed the Office of the First Lady and served as a military intelligence hub during World War II. It also served as the public entrance for White House tours.
Historians Raise Concerns
The proposed expansion raised alarm among historians and preservationists.
“We acknowledge the utility of a larger meeting space at the White House, but we are deeply concerned that the massing and height of the proposed new construction will overwhelm the White House itself,” Carol Quillen, president and CEO of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, said in a statement. She added that the new structure “may also permanently disrupt the carefully balanced classical design of the White House, with its two smaller and lower East and West Wings.”
Dr. Lindsay Chervinsky, presidential historian and executive director of the George Washington Presidential Library at Mount Vernon, also expressed her concerns. “I’ve seen drawings of [the ballroom] next to the White House, and it does a couple of things,” she said. “First, it dwarfs it. And second, it takes away the symmetry. The White House looks symmetrical from above, from the front, and from the back — and this addition disrupts that. It’s going to be a very big change.”
In his recent post, Trump said the new ballroom is “an identical height and scale, it is totally in keeping with our historic White House.” He also said, “If you notice, the North Wall is a replica of the North Facade of the White House, shown at the right hand side of the picture.”
The rendering Trump shared is similar to ones that architect Shalom Baranes has shown at meetings with the two review panels that must approve the project, Washington Business Journal reported.
During a December 2025 White House reception, Trump said the ballroom’s cost could now reach $400 million. Above-grade construction of the project could begin as early as April.
Feature rendering courtesy Donald J. Trump/Truth Social
