5 ways White House banquet planning changed
President Trump has always had extravagant plans for renovating the White House ballroom, but the scope of the project continues to expand.
WASHINGTON – Americans oppose President Donald Trump’s controversial plan to demolish the east wing of the White House and build a 90,000-square-foot ballroom by a 2-1 margin, according to a new poll.
A Washington Post, ABC News, and Ipsos poll found that 56% of Americans oppose the demolition and banquet hall project, including 45% who said they “strongly oppose.” Meanwhile, 28% of respondents said they supported the plan. Only 15% of those surveyed said they “strongly support” the project.
Demolition crews abruptly demolished the historic east wing of the White House, home to the first lady’s staff, last week at the direction of the Trump administration to make way for the president’s future $300 million ballroom, which they say will be paid for with private donations.
The demolition was not subject to the same review process that restricts the demolition of other historic buildings. The National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 requires reviews of projects that affect most historic buildings, but exempts the White House, Supreme Court building and the U.S. Capitol.
The poll, released Oct. 30 and conducted from Oct. 24 to Oct. 28, was based on a sample of 725 adults. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.9 percentage points.
President Trump has said he needs a ballroom that can seat more than 900 people to host large White House events, which are currently held outdoors or in the much smaller East Room.
Before demolishing the East Wing, the White House did not submit plans for the banquet hall to the National Capital Planning Commission, the federal government’s central planning agency. The White House argued that under federal law, the 12-member commission only reviews construction projects, not the demolition of existing buildings.
The White House said it would later submit the ballroom plan to the National Capital Planning Commission, which is expected to greenlight the project given Trump’s strong influence over the 12-member board.
Three of the commission’s five appointees are Trump administration officials, including its chairman and White House chief of staff Will Schaaf. Ex-officio members of the board include Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth; Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum. Acting General Administrator Michael Lygas and two Republicans, Representative James Comer and Senator Rand Paul, who serve as the chairs of the House and Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committees, respectively.
The White House this week fired all six members of the American Board of Fine Arts, the federal agency tasked with advising on the ballroom’s design elements.
X Contact Joey Garrison at @joeygarrison.
