Trump's White House ballroom is too big, architect says, as 2nd panel prepares to vote on it [View all]
Source: AP
Updated 8:06 PM EST, March 4, 2026
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump ’s White House ballroom project is way too big and should be scaled back, an architect and member of the board of the National Trust for Historic Preservation said Wednesday — one of a number of changes he has suggested for a project he says could permanently alter the nation’s most recognizable historic home.
David Scott Parker, a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects whose firm specializes in residential design and historic preservation, shared his views with The Associated Press as a key federal agency, the National Capital Planning Commission, prepared to meet Thursday to vote on whether to approve the 90,000-square-foot (8,361-square-meter) project. A separate federal panel, the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, approved the project at its February meeting.
“Everything here feels inflated,” said Parker, who has been an architect for more than 35 years. “The net effect of this is to adversely impact what is the most important historic — the most identifiable historic — house in the entire United States. This is permanent, what it will do to the White House.”
Trump announced last summer he would be add a ballroom to the White House, citing the need for space other than a tent on the lawn to entertain important guests. He demolished the East Wing in October with little warning and underground construction to prepare the site has been underway since then. White House officials have said above-ground construction would not start before April, at the earliest.
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/trump-ballroom-white-house-east-wing-66753cd005193ac190e3702bd7353c0b
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