Trump wants a bigger White House ballroom. His architect disagrees. [View all]
Source: Washington Post
WP Exclusive
Trump wants a bigger White House ballroom. His architect disagrees.
The president and James McCrery had argued in recent weeks over the project's size, with Trump pushing him to expand the ballroom.
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6 min
By Jonathan Edwards and Dan Diamond
President Donald Trump has argued with the architect he handpicked to design a White House ballroom over the size of the project, reflecting a conflict between architectural norms and Trump's grandiose aesthetic, according to four people who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal conversations.
Trump's desire to go big with the project has put him at odds with architect James McCrery II, the people said, who has counseled restraint over concerns the planned 90,000-square-foot addition could dwarf the 55,000-square-foot mansion in violation of a general architectural rule: don't build an addition that overshadows the main building.
Trump’s intense focus on the project and insistence on realizing his vision over the objections of his own hire, historic preservationists and others concerned by a lack of public input in the project reflect his singular belief in himself as a tastemaker and obsessive attention to details.
In the first 10 months of his second term, Trump has waged a campaign to remake the White House in his gilded aesthetic and done so unilaterally — using a who’s-going-to-stop-me ethos he honed for decades as a developer.
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/jonathan-edwards/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/dan-diamond/
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/11/26/trump-ballroom-architect-james-mccrery/
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