President Donald Trump‘s major new addition to the White House — a large, gold-plated ballroom annex — will be even larger than the original plans called for, he said.
“We’re making it a little bigger,” Trump told NBC News in a phone interview Saturday. “It will be top-of-the-line, as good as it can get anywhere in the world.” Under the expanded plans, the ballroom will be able to accommodate up to 900 people, Trump told the outlet, an increase of 38% from the White House’s previous estimate that it would have a seated capacity of 650.
The White House, in unveiling plans for the ballroom in late July, said it will cost about $200 million. Trump and “other patriot donors” have “generously committed to donating the funds necessary” to build the new facility, the White House said.
According to the initial announcement, the new White House State Ballroom “will be a much-needed and exquisite addition of approximately 90,000 total square feet of ornately designed and carefully crafted space.”
Crews this week began construction on the ballroom, which the White House expects to be completed “long before the end of President Trump’s term.” The new structure is being built on the site where the East Wing is located; the White House’s East Room event and reception area has had only a 200-person seated capacity.
On Thursday, the president was asked by a reporter on the White House grounds how he was “holding up” after the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk in Utah on Sept. 10. Trump, who had a close relationship with Kirk, replied (via Mediaite), “I think very good. And by the way, right there, you see all the trucks? They’ve just started construction of the new ballroom for the White House, which is something they’ve been trying to get, as you know, for about 150 years.”
Trump selected Washington, D.C.-based McCrery Architects as the project’s lead architect. The construction team is headed by Clark Construction, and the engineering team is led by AECOM. The Secret Service will provide the “necessary security enhancements and modifications,” according to the White House.
Per the White House, the ballroom will be “substantially separated” from the White House’s main building while its “theme and architectural heritage will be almost identical.”
Pictured above: Artist’s rendering of the White House ballroom’s interior
