WASHINGTON: The White House on Thursday announced that construction on a massive, new $200 million ballroom will begin in September and be ready before President Donald Trump ‘s term ends in early 2029.
It will be the latest change introduced to what’s known as “The People’s House” since the Republican president returned to office in January. It also will be the first structural change to the Executive Mansion itself since the addition of the Truman balcony in 1948.
Trump has substantially redecorated the Oval Office through the addition of golden flourishes and cherubs, presidential portraits and other items, and installed massive flagpoles on the north and south lawns to fly the American flag. Workers are currently finishing up a project to replace the lawn in the Rose Garden with stone.
Trump for months has been promising to build a ballroom, saying the White House doesn’t have space big enough for large events and scoffing at the notion of hosting heads of state and other guests in tents on the lawn as past administrations have done for state dinners attended by hundreds of guests.
The East Room, the largest room in the White House, can accommodate about 200 people.
Trump said he’s been planning the construction for some time.
“They’ve wanted a ballroom at the White House for more than 150 years but there’s never been a president that was good at ballrooms,” Trump told reporters Thursday. “I’m good at building things and we’re going to build quickly and on time. It’ll be beautiful, top, top of the line.”
He said the new ballroom would not interfere with the mansion itself.
“It’ll be near it but not touching it and pays total respect to the existing building, which I’m the biggest fan of,” he said of the White House. “It’s my favorite. It’s my favorite place. I love it.”
Trump said the ballroom will serve administrations to come.
“It’ll be a great legacy project,” he said. “I think it will be really beautiful.”
The 90,000-square-foot ballroom will be built where the East Wing sits with a seated capacity of 650 people. The East Wing houses several offices, including the first lady’s. Those offices will be temporarily relocated during construction and that wing of the building will be modernized and renovated, said White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
White House chief of staff Susie Wiles said the president, whose early career was in real estate and construction, and his White House are “fully committed” to working with the appropriate organizations to preserve the mansion’s “special history.”
“President Trump is a builder at heart and has an extraordinary eye for detail,” Wiles said in a statement.
Leavitt said at her briefing Thursday that Trump and other donors have committed to raising the approximately $200 million in construction costs. She did not name any of the other donors.
Renderings of what the future ballroom will look like were posted on the White House website.
The president chose McCrery Architects, based in Washington, as lead architect on the project. The construction team will be led by Clark Construction. Engineering will be provided by AECOM.
Trump also has another project in mind. He told NBC News in an interview that he intends to replace what he said was a “terribly” remodeled bathroom in the famous Lincoln Bedroom with one that is closer in style to the 19-th century.
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White House announces new $200m ballroom as part of Trump’s latest makeover of ‘The People’s House’
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White House announces new $200m ballroom as part of Trump’s latest makeover of ‘The People’s House’
- The 90,000-square-foot ballroom will be built where the East Wing sits with a seated capacity of 650 people
Hong Kong faces low election turnout as residents mourn deadly fire
HONG KONG: Turnout is expected to be low for Hong Kong’s “patriots only” legislative election on Sunday, with subdued political campaigning as the population reels from the city’s deadliest blaze in decades that has killed 159 people so far.
Volunteers tentatively handed out flyers and hung banners outside subway stations and crowded intersections on Friday, but they were largely ignored by residents. Campaigning activities were suspended for a few days following last week’s fire.
“This accident, of course, can influence the attendance of the election ... (Hong Kongers) don’t have the interest, the eagerness to elect people,” said C.K. Lau, an 82-year-old retiree.
The vote has been viewed by some analysts as a test of legitimacy for the Hong Kong government as it tries to soothe public anger over the fire and oversee an ongoing national security crackdown.
Locals said they were angry and traumatized after authorities admitted that substandard building materials used during renovation work at the high-rise estate in northern Tai Po district were responsible for fueling the blaze.
“Everyone’s mood is so heavy right now,” said May Li, 48. “How can we still talk about holding an election under these circumstances? It definitely has to be postponed.”
The last Legislative Council elections in 2021 recorded the lowest voter turnout — 30.2 percent — since the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997.
On Thursday, Hong Kong’s national security office urged residents to “actively participate in voting,” saying it is critical in supporting government post-disaster reconstruction efforts.
“Every voter is a stakeholder in the homeland of Hong Kong,” a statement said. “If you truly love Hong Kong, you will vote sincerely.”
Four people were arrested for inciting others not to vote, the city’s anti-corruption body said on Thursday. A further three were arrested for the same offense on November 20, according to a previous statement from the body.
National security authorities have also repeatedly warned against attempts to “exploit” the fire to incite another “color revolution,” referring to the 2019 pro-democracy protests that roiled the city.
Publicly inciting a vote boycott was criminalized in 2021 as part of sweeping electoral reforms that effectively squeezed out pro-democracy voices from the city’s 90-seat legislature.
Coming after Beijing imposed a national security law on the city in 2020, the reforms ensured that only pro-Beijing candidates — “patriots” — could run and further reduced the space for meaningful democratic participation by Hong Kong residents, analysts say.
Pan-democrat voters — who traditionally made up about 60 percent of Hong Kong’s electorate — have since shunned the elections.
The number of registered voters for Sunday’s polls — 4.13 million — has also dropped for the fourth consecutive year since 2021, when a peak of 4.47 million people were registered.
The current term of the Legislative Council ends on December 31. If the election were delayed, a vacuum period could emerge, making it difficult to maintain a functional lawmaking body.
Volunteers tentatively handed out flyers and hung banners outside subway stations and crowded intersections on Friday, but they were largely ignored by residents. Campaigning activities were suspended for a few days following last week’s fire.
“This accident, of course, can influence the attendance of the election ... (Hong Kongers) don’t have the interest, the eagerness to elect people,” said C.K. Lau, an 82-year-old retiree.
The vote has been viewed by some analysts as a test of legitimacy for the Hong Kong government as it tries to soothe public anger over the fire and oversee an ongoing national security crackdown.
Locals said they were angry and traumatized after authorities admitted that substandard building materials used during renovation work at the high-rise estate in northern Tai Po district were responsible for fueling the blaze.
“Everyone’s mood is so heavy right now,” said May Li, 48. “How can we still talk about holding an election under these circumstances? It definitely has to be postponed.”
The last Legislative Council elections in 2021 recorded the lowest voter turnout — 30.2 percent — since the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997.
On Thursday, Hong Kong’s national security office urged residents to “actively participate in voting,” saying it is critical in supporting government post-disaster reconstruction efforts.
“Every voter is a stakeholder in the homeland of Hong Kong,” a statement said. “If you truly love Hong Kong, you will vote sincerely.”
Four people were arrested for inciting others not to vote, the city’s anti-corruption body said on Thursday. A further three were arrested for the same offense on November 20, according to a previous statement from the body.
National security authorities have also repeatedly warned against attempts to “exploit” the fire to incite another “color revolution,” referring to the 2019 pro-democracy protests that roiled the city.
Publicly inciting a vote boycott was criminalized in 2021 as part of sweeping electoral reforms that effectively squeezed out pro-democracy voices from the city’s 90-seat legislature.
Coming after Beijing imposed a national security law on the city in 2020, the reforms ensured that only pro-Beijing candidates — “patriots” — could run and further reduced the space for meaningful democratic participation by Hong Kong residents, analysts say.
Pan-democrat voters — who traditionally made up about 60 percent of Hong Kong’s electorate — have since shunned the elections.
The number of registered voters for Sunday’s polls — 4.13 million — has also dropped for the fourth consecutive year since 2021, when a peak of 4.47 million people were registered.
The current term of the Legislative Council ends on December 31. If the election were delayed, a vacuum period could emerge, making it difficult to maintain a functional lawmaking body.
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