President Donald Trump encouraged those working on the construction of his new White House ballroom project to disregard traditional permitting, zoning, and code requirements, according to a new report.
Since announcing the project in July, Trumpâs ballroom has become larger, costlier and more destructive than initially thought â raising concerns about whether the president is following historical rules when it comes to a White House addition.
The ballroomâs capacity, initially thought to be 650, has been raised to 900. Its cost has nearly doubled from $200 million to $350 million. Its construction, which Trump initially said would not interfere with the integrity of the current White House, has led to the destruction of the East Wing.
But to ensure the new ballroom is erected, the president has installed loyalists into positions that would approve the new design and reportedly told teams they do not need to follow the same permit and zoning rules as other properties, the New York Times reported.
At an October event to raise money for the ballroom project, Trump touted to potential donors that he was told he didnât need to follow the traditional conditions.
The ballroom, anticipated to be completed before 2029, is being privately funded. The president has given millions to fund it and several major companies, including Amazon, Lockheed Martin, Meta and others, have donated.
âI said, âHow long will it take?â They said, âSir, you can start tonight⌠You have zero zoning conditions, youâre the president,ââ Trump told the room of potential donors.
âYou mean I can actually do something I really want? Because Iâm used to sitting with heads of community boards and politicians,â Trump added, leading to laughter.
When asked for comment, the White House directed The Independent to comments Trump made at the October event.
The architectural firms involved with the ballroom project told NYT they are following industry standards.
The White House has moved its ballroom project forward quickly, with many of the changes from the original proposal only becoming known to the public once theyâve begun â such as the demolition of the East Wing.
Yet even other changes, such as the presidentâs desire to make the ballroom larger, have not been welcomed by the architects involved with the project.
McCrery Architects, the firm founded by James McCrery II, which has been tapped to help with the ballroom project, pushed for the president to reduce the size of the 90,000-square-foot ballroom. The architects argued the new addition could overshadow the current White House, breaking with a longstanding tradition.
A White House official confirmed that the president and McCrery had different views of the ballroom, but characterized their conversations as âconstructive dialogue.â
But to ensure his ballroom design obtains the approval needed from the Commission of Fine Arts, an independent agency established to give expert advice to the president on design and aesthetic matters, Trump fired all six members in October.
A White House official confirmed the firings and said the president would appoint a new slate of members âthat are more alignedâ with Trumpâs America First agenda.
The president also fired Biden appointees on the National Capital Planning Commission, the agency required to review construction projects in the nationâs capital. Instead, the commission is now mostly comprised of Trump loyalists.
