Trump Announces Huge $200 Million Expansion to White House That Would ‘Modernize’ It

The Trump administration has announced a reconstructing of the East Wing of the White House to feature a golden ballroom.

They shared this on Thursday

A press release by the White House on Thursday, July 31 announced a “much-needed and exquisite addition” of the White House Ballroom in the East Wing of the building.

The ballroom is expected to be 90,000 square feet with the capacity to host 650 people at a time.

It’ll be the main hosting space

The new ballroom would replace the East Room, which is the current preferred hosting space and only holds 200 people at a time.

This would shift events away from the main section of the White House.

They emphasized the importance of the room

The White House emphasized the importance of the new ballroom, explaining that not having one forced the staff to install a “large and unsightly tent” outside when there was an overflow of guests.

It’ll be ‘almost identical’ to the rest of the building

“The White House Ballroom will be substantially separated from the main building of the White House, but at the same time, its theme and architectural heritage will be almost identical,” the press release read.

“The site of the new ballroom will be where the small, heavily changed, and reconstructed East Wing currently sits.”

Karoline Leavitt said it would ‘modernize’ the place

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a press conference on Thursday that the new ballroom isn’t meant to completely replace the East Wing, but to ‘modernize’ it.

It’s funded by Donald Trump

The construction is set to start in September and is expected to cost $200 million, funded by President Donald Trump and other ‘patriot donors’.

A completion date for the construction wasn’t given by the White House but they assured it would open “long before the end of President Trump’s term.”

The East Wing is usually for the first lady

Historically, the East Wing of the White House has been office space for the first lady and her staff, but they’ll be temporarily moved while the construction takes place.