Trump Ballroom

President Trump has demolished the entire East Wing of the White House to construct a massive ballroom that is larger than the White House itself.

It’ll be built over on the east side, and it will be beautiful. It’ll be views of the Washington Monument. It won’t interfere with the current building. It’ll be near it but not touching it. And pays total respect to the existing building, which I’m the biggest fan of.

– President Donald Trump

Trump’s Ballroom/WH Convention Center

Size – 90,000 sq ft

The White House itself is 55,000 sq ft. and the San Diego Convention Center’s “Sails Pavilion” is 90,000 sq ft.

Cost- July 2025 $200 Million, Sept 2005, $250 Million, Oct 2025 $300 Million.

Seating size – July 2025, 650, Sept 2025, 900, Oct 2025, 999

Market Comparisons

Capacity – 90,000 sq ft of space, using a banquet seating arrangement, typically holds 15 to 18 people per sq ft. Banquet style @ 90,000 = 5,000 to 6,000 people

If you allocate 20% of the room to stage, dance floor, buffet lines, AV pits, etc. (so 72,000 ft² remains for seating):

18 ft²/person = 4,000 people
15 ft²/person = 4,800 people

Cost – ultra-luxury, nationally prominent level finishes (marble everywhere, bespoke chandeliers, custom millwork, major engineering and fancy façades) in an expensive metro: budget $1,800 to $3,500/ft² equals $162M to $315M.

KEY QUESTION – Why would the White House need a balloon large enough to hold over 4,000 for a state dinner?

A note about State Dinners

The State Dining Room can hold 140 people. The East Room holds up to 260 people.

For larger gatherings, climate-controlled tents are erected that can accommodate up to 700 people.

During his first term, Trump hosted two state dinners.

For the dinner honoring Emmanuel Macron (April 24, 2018), the guest list was approximately 123 people.
For the dinner honoring Scott Morrison of Australia (September 20, 2019), the guest list was described as “about 200 people”.

Trump in July fired Biden appointees from the National Capital Planning Commission, another urban-planning agency that is required to review external construction projects at the White House. Trump allies now make up a majority of the 12-member board, including its chairman, Trump staff secretary Will Scharf.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/10/28/trump-arts-commission-firings-ballroom-arch/

People and companies funding this project.

Some donors on the list attended a dinner at the White House on 15 October. They include Microsoft, Coinbase, Palantir, Lockheed Martin, Amazon and Google.

Also present and on the list were Shari and Edward Glazer, who, together with their siblings, own both the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Manchester United.

Doner’s background and conflicts. https://edition.cnn.com/2025/10/23/us/trump-white-house-ballroom-donors-invs

The list includes:

The public is generally opposed to this project.

The Democratic lawmakers noted the project is expected to exceed $300 million and warned the identities of the individual and corporate donors “has raised troubling questions about the potential for influence peddling and other forms of corruption.”

“To assess possible conflicts of interest and violations of law and ethics obligations, Congress and the American people deserve meaningful transparency,” they wrote.

SOURCE: https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5578740-senate-democrats-trump-ballroom-donors/

The $230 Million question

Trump is suing the US government for $230 million. His hand-picked Justice Department will decide if he receives the money.

Q- How much of these taxpayer monies will go toward this project?

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/can-anyone-stop-trumps-230-million-dollar-doj-payoff-to-himself.html