Donald Trump started out as a real estate developer. He has big plans for a new ballroom at the White House. But this drives the planner into despair.
12/02/2025, 10:58 am12/02/2025, 10:58 am
Great historical figures like to immortalize themselves in large buildings. US President Donald Trump also thinks so. But one of his favorite projects is stalling: the construction of a new ballroom to replace the old east wing in the White House.
The US President with architect James McCrery: Trump’s wishes for the pompous project should become increasingly unusual.Image: keystone
Trump demands speed. In October he had the entire east wing of the White House demolished to make room for his pompous ballroom. But now the project is stalling. According to information from “Washington Post” The originally commissioned architect James McCrery withdrew from the project and only works as a consultant. “As with any construction project, discussions take place between the client and the architect,” a White House employee told the newspaper.
McCrery is best known as an architect of churches. Because of the sacrality of his designs, he is also appreciated by conservatives. According to information from the New York Times, he is said to have based the new ballroom on the large windows of the Palace of Versailles.
Trump’s plans were probably not big enough. In meetings in the Oval Office, he repeatedly questioned the details of the project, which irritated McCrery. However, after retiring as main architect, he wanted to stay with the project because he feared that otherwise someone would plan an “inferior building”.
According to information from the New York Times, the ballroom is said to have expanded from the original 500 to 999 seats to 1,350 seats according to the president’s wishes.
The construction is also controversial in other ways. Trump is said to have declared that building regulations did not have to be observed. Ultimately, the construction is within his sovereignty.
The estimated costs for this project rose to around 300 million dollars, or around 216 million euros. The opposition democrats and parts of civil society criticize the construction project.
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