Trump Defends White House Ballroom Renovation Costing Under $400 Million

President Donald Trump on May 6, 2026, defended the increased cost of a planned White House ballroom, stating that deep-rooted studies showed the facility must be approximately twice the size and of far higher quality than the original proposal to handle necessary events, meetings, and future inaugurations.

"The original price was 200 Million Dollars, the double sized, highest quality completed project will be something less than 400 Million Dollars. " Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Trump posted a rendering of the proposed ballroom on March 31, 2026. The White House had previously stated it aimed to raise $400 million for the project through private donations. In February 2026, Trump said the work would incur "no charge to the taxpayer whatsoever" and would be funded entirely by donations from friends and people who love the country.

Senate Republicans on May 5, 2026, proposed $1 billion in funding for the Secret Service to cover security-related aspects of the East Wing renovation, including the ballroom project, as part of a broader immigration enforcement package. The appropriation would remain available until September 30, 2029, and the bill language specifies that none of the funds may be used for non-security elements of the East Wing Modernization Project.

The National Capital Planning Commission approved preliminary and final site and building plans for the East Wing Modernization Project on April 2, 2026.

The approved plan includes an approximately 22,000-square-foot ballroom designed for roughly 1,000 seated dinner guests within about 89,000 square feet of above-ground East Wing space. Trump held a rendering of the planned ballroom during an October 22, 2025, meeting in the Oval Office with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.

Construction of the ballroom was visible next to the White House on April 27, 2026.

In an April 27, 2026, court filing, the Justice Department stated that protective enhancements would include missile-resistant steel columns, military-grade venting, drone-proof ceilings, bullet-, ballistic-, and blast-proof glass, bomb shelters, a state-of-the-art hospital and medical facilities, Top Secret military installations, structures, and equipment, and protective partitioning. S.

District Judge Richard Leon issued a preliminary injunction in March 2026 blocking further work on the ballroom.

C. Circuit kept the injunction on hold while it considers the case. The National Trust for Historic Preservation is challenging the project. The appeals court has scheduled a June 5 hearing and extended the stay until then.

Trump faced a third assassination attempt last month at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner at the Washington Hilton. House Minority Whip Katherine Clark stated that "Donald Trump promised that ZERO taxpayer dollars will be used for his ballroom. " Democratic Sen.