President Donald Trump said Sunday that it was ‘too late’ to halt construction of a new ballroom at the White House, despite a newly filed lawsuit challenging the project.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump described the ballroom as ‘a GIFT (ZERO taxpayer funding) to the United States of America,’ estimating its cost at $300 million and saying it was financed through private donations.
Trump said the lawsuit was brought by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, criticizing the group for filing it after construction was already underway.
‘Why didn’t these obstructionists and troublemakers bring their baseless lawsuit much earlier?’ he wrote.
Trump added that the East Wing was ‘changed, built and rebuilt over the years’ and that ‘it bore no resemblance or relationship to the original building.’
On July 31, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced the planned construction of a 90,000-square-foot ballroom. The sprawling ballroom will accommodate approximately 650 seated guests and will stay true to the classical design of the White House.
The White House does not have a formal ballroom, and the new ballroom will take the place of the current East Wing of the White House.
Since his return to office, Trump has wasted no time in reshaping the look and feel of the White House and the National Mall.
Trump has previously unveiled a new monument dubbed the ‘Arc de Trump,’ which is planned to commemorate the nation’s 250th anniversary next year.
He said the large arch, a near twin of Paris’s iconic Arc de Triomphe, will welcome visitors crossing the Arlington Memorial Bridge from Arlington National Cemetery into the heart of the nation’s capital.
Trump’s taste for opulence is unmistakable in the Oval Office, where golden accents now decorate the nation’s most iconic workspace, a reflection of his personal style.
Since then, Trump has added gold accents throughout the Oval Office to include decorative details along the ceiling and around the doorway trim. Even the cherubs inside the door frames were given a gilded makeover.
Outside the Oval Office, the Trump administration unveiled the ‘Presidential Walk of Fame,’ a series of portraits of past presidents now displayed along the West Wing colonnade.
The portrait of former President Joe Biden features his signature, created with an autopen, a machine that holds a pen and reproduces a person’s handwriting through programmed movements. The Trump administration has also installed several large mirrors in gold frames along the walkway.
Trump also said he renovated the Lincoln bathroom in the White House because it did not reflect the style of President Abraham Lincoln’s era.
‘I renovated the Lincoln Bathroom in the White House. It was renovated in the 1940s in an art-deco green tile style, which was totally inappropriate for the Lincoln Era,’ Trump wrote in an Oct. 31 Truth Social post.