President Donald Trump took to social media this week to share where he envisions future presidential inaugurations taking place. In a post on Truth Social, Trump showed off the vision for his “on budget and ahead of schedule” White House Ballroom in a new rendering of the East Wing structure shown from the back of the property.
“When completed, it will be the finest Ballroom ever built anywhere in the World, one that has been sought by Presidents for over 150 years — and now they are getting THE BEST! Because of its unprecedented structural, safety, and security features, it will also be used for future Presidential Inaugurations,” Trump wrote.
Inaugurations have historically been held at the U.S. Capitol. The 89,000 square feet of the rebuilt East Wing will be centered around a 22,000-square-foot banquet hall, which Bloomberg says will be one of the biggest dining rooms in Washington, D.C.
There will be a new movie theater and office space for First Lady Melania Trump and her staff in the rest of the East Wing.
There will be two levels in the ballroom: one with offices and a screening room, and the other with the banquet hall itself. The outside of the building will be made of stone and precast concrete.
The president’s newest rendering comes months after the historic East Wing was torn down last October to make room for the new ballroom.
The ballroom was supposed to cost $200 million to build at first, but Trump said in December that the price had gone up to $400 million.
“We’re donating a $400 million ballroom,” Trump said during a Hanukkah reception at the White House on Tuesday, Dec. 17, according to footage shared by C-SPAN. “Myself and donors are giving them, free of charge, for nothing.”
However, a judge has not yet decided if the new East Wing project can continue using private donations to avoid getting congressional approval.
Richard Leon, a U.S. District Judge, said he might make a decision this month on the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s challenge to the project.
The Trump administration says that using private donations for the project has saved taxpayers money, but congressional Democrats have questioned the deal by saying it “exploits gaps in federal disclosure rules that Congress should tighten.”
The administration said that the Department of the Interior has the legal right to give gifts to the White House and that Congress approved the changes that were made to the White House.
Lawyers for the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which Congress has tasked with protecting historic buildings, have countered, saying that a building of this quality would need explicit approval and funding from Congress.
Leon expressed his belief that the case, regardless of his decision, is likely to face an appeal and potentially reach the Supreme Court.
Back in December, Trump shifted course on his plans for the new White House ballroom, which is currently under construction, by appointing a new lead architect for the project.
The ballroom — expected to be the largest addition to the White House since the Oval Office — is necessary because large events held at the White House must be outdoors in tents at the present time and are subject to weather conditions, Trump has said.
“Trump has selected Shalom Baranes to replace James McCrery II as the chief architect of the planned 90,000-square-foot, gilded ballroom, the White House has now confirmed,” Newsweek reported.
The planned ballroom would nearly double the overall size of the White House complex, and satellite images have shown that demolition activity is visible from space, Newsweek said.
Shalom Baranes Associates was founded in 1981 and is known for its work on prominent federal buildings in Washington, including the main Treasury Department building, the headquarters of the General Services Administration, and the American Red Cross national headquarters.