President Donald Trump has a new vision for the White House ballroom.
The massive project has been underway since last October, when a demolition crew demolished the East Wing.
To Trump, bigger is always better, and his ballroom design is no exception. The historic wing of the executive mansion will make way for the 90,000-square-foot event space. The White House covers 55,000 square feet.
During the GOP midterm convention, Trump declared that the ballroom would “top” China’s Great Hall of the People.
Members of his Cabinet ogled the architecture during a March visit to Beijing.
In February, he bragged that it would be “the greatest of its kind ever built!”
Around that time, the price skyrocketed from an initial estimate of $200 million to roughly $400 million to $600 million. The blueprints also received upgrades.
At first, Trump boasted that he was building a space to host world dignitaries and mitigate security concerns after multiple attempts on his life.
His Fox News anchor pal Jesse Watters exposed the 80-year-old’s true motivations for building a ballroom. During a 2025 Turning Point USA event, Watters claimed, “He said, ‘Jesse, it’s a monument. I’m building a monument to myself, because no one else will.’”
Trump later admitted that workers were also constructing an underground military complex beneath the lavish hall. However, the ballroom itself remains his top priority.
Cement pillars, steel frames, rooms, supplies, and other construction materials fill the area beyond the White House gates.
But the concept of the president’s vanity project remains hard to fathom, or at least it was until he shared a new look inside the planned building.
“First interior renderings of the magnificent new Ballroom at the White House. Massively expensive, but free of charge to the American Taxpayer — On budget, and ahead of schedule!” Trump wrote in a Sept. 14 Truth Social post.
The attached images showed columns, chandeliers, doors, walls, and ceiling accents all covered in gold. The marble floor is tinted golden-brown hue.
Trump sees opulence and luxury when he marvels at the photos. To his detractors, it’s a reminder of his contested design choices that have spoiled the White House.
“For crying out loud can he stop with all the gaudy gold? Bad enough the Oval Office looks like a pimp’s warehouse,” whined one person.
Critics piled on with more complaints about the obnoxiously sized project that overshadows the historical landmark.
“That’s the tacky garbage he wants to dwarf the White House and ruin the aesthetic before? I guess it’s true nothing he’s built since Ivana divorced him holds true. We know who had the eye and taste,” an X user scoffed.
“This is bad oh so bad really, really bad. Just so tackily bad,” read a third disapproval.
A bird’s-eye view of the construction site prompted someone else to tweet, “The ballroom is so large it looks like a separate structure, not actually part of the White House. The White House itself looks like a mere annex to the ballroom.”
One thing is for certain: Trump refused to let anyone outdo him, and he treats size as a go-to status marker.
Whether he is claiming the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool is “bigger than skyscrapers” like the Willis Tower, Empire State Building, and One World Trade Center, or that he has the “biggest” rally turnout despite photos telling a different story, he always depicts himself and his endeavors as the greatest.
First interior renderings of the magnificent new Ballroom at the White House. Massively expensive, but free of charge to the American Taxpayer — On budget, and ahead of schedule! President DONALD J. TRUMP
— Commentary Donald J. Trump Truth Social Posts On X (@TrumpTruthOnX) September 13, 2026
( TS: Sep 13 2026, 7:52 PM ET ) pic.twitter.com/kIZMFdop17
