Comment on Trump's Ballroom Plan

Feb. 17, 2026
By: Fred Leeson

Heavy machinery tears down a section of the East Wing of the White House as construction begins on President Donald Trump's planned ballroom, in Washington, DC, on October 20, 2025. Trump held a glitzy dinner October 15, 2025 to thank billionaires and top companies for donating to the new $250 million ballroom he is building at the White House. The guests included representatives from tech firms like Amazon, Apple, Meta, Google, Microsoft and Palantir and defense giant Lockheed Martin, according to US media citing a White House guest list. Photo by Pedro UGARTE / AFP via Getty Images

For what it’s worth, all of us who care have a chance to comment in writing about the Trump plan to build a massive ballroom in place of the East Wing of the White House that he tore down.  This topic falls outside the geographical boundaries usually discussed on this blog, but hey, we can still care.

One can’t be too enthusiastic about the ultimate outcome since the National Capital Planning Commission that is seeking comments before the March 5 deadline has a majority of its members appointed by Trump.  Regardless here’s how to comment:

https://www.ncpc.gov/participate/guidelines/

Click on the heading marked “review”.  Scroll down to “East Wing Modernization” and follow the directions.

Some of my Facebook friends saw my post about this and have already responded.  The commission’s guidelines allow for public testimony on March 5, but my guess is that waiting for a turn to speak will be daunting.  Meanwhile, litigation is still pending that conceivably could halt the proposed plans. 

The commission earlier put images of the proposed design on its website, but has since taken them down.  To my eye, all the images were intended to minimize the project’s rather monstrous scale in relation to the historic White House. 

The images, since removed, also showed landscaping for the grounds.  Alas, they spelled it “gorunds” which to me suggests the level of care that has been invested.  Make of it what you will. 

Fred Leeson writes the Building on History Blog and is a former president of the Bosco-Milligan Foundation and a member of the foundation's Board of Advisors.