Trump’s ballroom proposal clears Fine Arts Commission vote, but more approvals and court fight remain
The U.S. Commission of Fine Arts approved President Donald Trump’s plan to build a ballroom on the site of the former White House East Wing, the commission voted on Thursday, according to the meeting account. The approval came from a seven-member panel whose commissioners were appointed by Trump, as the project advanced through a federal design-review process that still requires another agency’s consideration and is being challenged in court.
According to the meeting record, the commission held its session over Zoom and heard from architects involved in the design. Shalom Baranes, described as the lead architect, and Rick Parisi, described as the landscape architect, presented images and sketches showing how the ballroom and grounds would look when completed.
The commission had initially planned to vote on final approval next month, following a follow-up presentation. Instead, after the panel approved the design concept, the chairman, Rodney Mims Cook Jr., made a motion that led to a vote on final approval, after which five of the seven commissioners voted in favor, according to the meeting account.
Commissioner James McCrery did not participate in the discussion or votes because he was the initial architect on the project before Trump replaced him, and Commissioner Roger Kimball left the meeting early for another commitment, the panel secretary said. Commissioners offered mostly complimentary remarks before the votes, according to the account of the meeting.
Cook echoed one of Trump’s main arguments for creating an expanded entertaining space at the White House, including the goal of ending what Trump described as a reliance on temporary structures, which he characterized as “tents,” for visiting dignitaries at state dinners and other functions. Cook said, “Our sitting president has actually designed a very beautiful structure and, as was said, in the comments earlier, the United States just should not be entertaining the world in tents.”
The commission also heard public comments submitted ahead of the Wednesday deadline, with the secretary, Thomas Luebke, saying “over 99%” of more than 2,000 messages received in the past week opposed the ballroom proposal. Luebke said some comments raised concerns about Trump’s decision to demolish the East Wing and about limited transparency concerning who would pay for the ballroom or how contracts were awarded.
Supporters’ comments, Luebke said, focused on what they described as the need for a larger White House meeting space and on concerns about the image presented to the world, according to the account. The meeting account said commissioners had also questioned Baranes at an earlier January session about the “immense” design and scale, even as they broadly endorsed Trump’s vision.
The meeting account said Cook and other commissioners on Thursday complimented Baranes for updating the design to remove a large pediment—described as a triangular element above the south portico—that some commissioners had objected to in January because of its size. Commissioner Mary Anne Carter, who also is head of the National Endowment for the Arts, said, “I think taking the pediment off the south side was a really good move,” adding that it helped restore balance and align the building’s appearance with the White House.
Baranes said the pediment removal was the biggest design change and that Trump had “agreed to do that,” according to the meeting account. The ballroom will be built on the site of the former East Wing, which Trump demolished in October, prompting criticism from some lawmakers, historians, and preservationists who argued the president should have waited until the two federal agencies and Congress reviewed and approved the project and the public had a chance to comment.
The planned ballroom is described as 90,000 square feet (8,361 square meters), nearly twice the size of the White House at 55,000 square feet (5,110 square meters), based on figures cited in the meeting account. Trump has said the ballroom would accommodate about 1,000 people, the account said, while the East Room, described as the largest White House room, can fit just over 200 people at most.
Trump has said the ballroom would cost about $400 million and be funded with private donations, and the meeting account said that to date the White House had released only an incomplete list of donors. The account also said Trump had defended the ballroom in social media posts that included drawings, including a January claim that “most of the material needed to build it had been ordered,” and that “there is no practical or reasonable way to go back,” with the phrase “IT IS TOO LATE!” included in one post.
Even with the Fine Arts Commission vote, the project remains subject to review by the National Capital Planning Commission, which has jurisdiction over construction and major renovation to government buildings in the region, according to the account. The meeting account also said a lawsuit is still pending: the National Trust for Historic Preservation has sued in federal court seeking to halt construction, and a ruling in the case was pending.
Carol Quillen, president and CEO of the privately funded nonprofit organization, said the group was “puzzled” by both votes because the final plans had not been presented or reviewed. Quillen also said the commission had “bypassed its obligation to provide serious design review and consider the views of the American people,” including negative public comments.
The National Trust said it remains concerned about the size, location, and massing of the proposal, the account reported, adding that Quillen said it would “overwhelm the carefully balanced classical design of the White House, a symbol of our democratic republic.” The ballroom project is scheduled for additional discussion at the National Capital Planning Commission’s March 5 meeting, with that panel led by a top White House aide, according to the meeting account.