Trump releases ‘first’ rendering of his White House ballroom

President Donald Trump on Tuesday shared what he called the first rendering of a new White House ballroom while he faces a federal lawsuit over his surprise demolition of the East Wing to build it.

“This beautiful building will be, when complete, the much-anticipated White House Ballroom — the greatest of its kind ever built!” Trump posted to his Truth Social platform.

Trump said that the rendering shows the planned 90,000-square-foot ballroom as seen from the U.S. Treasury Building, which sits across Pennsylvania Avenue NW from the White House.

The president asserted that the ballroom would replace the East Wing, which he described as “very small, dilapidated, and rebuilt many times.” He said his predecessors had asked for such a ballroom “for over 150 years.”

The National Trust for Historic Preservation filed a lawsuit against Trump in December, seeking to halt construction of his proposed White House ballroom. The ballroom was first announced by the Trump administration in July.

Demolition of the East Wing began in late October without the plans being submitted to the National Capital Planning Commission or the Commission of Fine Arts, the two bodies charged by law with reviewing major federal construction in Washington.

The trust argued that the administration illegally demolished the East Wing and began construction without required approvals, environmental review or public input. It asked the court to pause further work on the project until federal review processes are completed and Congress authorizes the construction.

The Trump administration later urged a federal judge to deny the request to immediately halt construction, stating that the request for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction fails because the above-grade demolition the group seeks to stop has already been completed and cannot be undone.

Officials also argued that the trust cannot show imminent irreparable injury, noting that remaining work through at least March will focus on below-grade construction and site stabilization. Above-ground structural work is not expected to begin until at least April, and architectural plans for the ballroom are still being finalized.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation then told a federal judge in late December that construction already underway at the White House has set the size and shape of the planned ballroom before the required federal review. The group said this makes any future oversight an “empty exercise.”

The trust claimed that the National Park Service finished the required Environmental Assessment for the project in August but “unlawfully” did not share it with the public until December 15, while construction continued. By then, the lawsuit had already been filed and the East Wing had already been demolished.

The trust argued that by delaying the release, the public lost its chance to participate in decision-making before irreversible steps were taken.

Trump is separately facing a lawsuit over plans to paint the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, which sits on the White House compound.

The federal lawsuit was filed by Culture Heritage Partners, a law firm specializing in the protection of cultural heritage, with the DC Preservation League. The lawsuit names Trump, as well as the General Services Administration and the NPS among the defendants.

Trump recently told Fox News that he planned to paint the entire exterior of the building white, insisting that it would bring out the “detail” in the architecture, and that he was already soliciting bids for the project.

But Cultural Heritage Partners argued the National Historic Landmark “would fundamentally change its historic appearance and character” in violation of federal law, including the National Environmental Policy Act, the National Historic Preservation Act and the Administrative Procedures Act.

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