Bits of Information I have Compiled Regarding the White House Ballroom

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The East Wing is thought of as the social side of the White House. It sets across East Executive Avenue from the Treasury Department and is where tourists and other guests enter. The curator has taken art and other artifacts from the East Wing, and they are in storage. The current curator is Donna Hayashi Smith, and she was appointed in May 2024. She is also responsible for the care and safe keeping of each piece. Trump has said that the current space only accommodated 200 people and the new one would have room for 650 people when finished. It will be 90,000 square feet. There has had to be some demolition to the area since the East Wing is traditionally home for the first lady and her staff, and it is being modernized as part of the ballroom project. Trump says that the money for the ballroom is being paid for by private donations. The White House has said a list of the private individuals and the corporations that are donating to the project would be made available, but nothing has been seen so far. (One to note is the $20 million that YouTube owes as part of a recent settlement for a 2021 lawsuit Trump brought against the company.) A White House official confirmed yesterday (Tuesday 10/28) that all six members of the Commission of Fine Arts had been fired. This group is an independent federal agency that would have reviewed Trump’s ballroom construction project, a White House official confirmed to NBC News. Trump is also going forward with the project without getting a go ahead from the National Capitol Planning Commission. This is the executive branch agency that has jurisdiction over construction and major renovations to government buildings in the region. Will Sharf, the White House Aide named to the position, has made a distinction between demolition work and rebuilding. He says the commission only has jurisdiction over the rebuilding. The East Wing will be a place where guests will mingle, sip cocktails and eat hors d’oeuvres until they are called into the ballroom for dinner. Trump said a set of windows in the room will be removed to create a passageway to and from the ballroom. And, yes, the renderings of what the new ballroom will look like does hold a strong resemblance to that of Mar-a-Lago. Is it good that the White House is being modernized? What are your concerns about this project?