President Donald Trump has unveiled his plans to build a $200,000 ballroom at the White House that will be part of his ‘legacy’.
Trump, who rose to fame as a real estate developer, has been wanting to construct the ballroom since his first term, but said he got too busy ‘fighting for survival with all the lunatics I had to beat’.
‘There was never a president that was good at ballrooms. I’m really good,’ the president said on Thursday, adding he had just looked at an ‘incredible’ one he built in Turnberry, Scotland.
‘We’re good at building, I’m good at building things. And we’ll get it built quickly and on time and it’ll be beautiful, top of the line.’
The White House State Ballroom will be about 90,000 square feet and have a seated capacity of 650 people. The East Room of the White House, by comparison, can only accommodate 200 seats.
Many functions hosting world leaders have been held in a ‘large and unsightly’ tent about 100 yards away from the main building entrance, according to the White House. Presidents, administrations and staff have ‘longed’ for a ballroom for 150 years.
The new ballroom will be separate from the main executive building but share its architectural theme. It will be ‘where the small, heavily changed, and reconstructed East Wing currently sits’, according to the White House.
Renderings of the project show a grand, cream-colored interior with crystal and gold chandeliers, gold-adorned ceilings, gold lamps, Corinthian columns and a marble floor.
‘President Trump is a builder at heart and has an extraordinary eye for detail,’ said White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, reading from a statement from chief of staff Susie Wiles.
The ballroom will have a view of the Washington Monument, Trump said.
‘It won’t interfere with the current building, it’ll be near it but not touching it, and pays total respect to the existing building which I’m the biggest fan of, its my favorite place, I love it,’ he said.
Trump picked McCrery Architect, which specializes in classical architectural design and is based in Washington, DC, to lead the project.
The firm’s CEO, Jim McCrery, stated that they will bring a ‘beautiful and necessary renovation to The People’s House, while preserving the elegance of its classical design and historical importance’.
Renovations are set to begin in September and the ballroom is expected to be completed before the end of Trump’s term.
The offices of First Lady Melania Trump, the military and other staff in the East Wing will be relocated as the work is underway.
Trump said he is privately funding the project and will likely have some donors.
‘I think it will be a legacy project,’ he said, ‘And I think it’ll be special.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
