How Trump's White House ballroom plan has doubled in size and cost over a year

How Trump's White House ballroom plan has doubled in size and cost over a year 8 minutes ago Share Save Add as preferred on Google Jake Horton & Lucy Gilder BBC Verify in Washington DC Getty Images In the year since US President Donald Trump announced plans to build a new ballroom at the White House, the proposals have grown to include a rooftop "drone port", an underground hospital and "top secret" military facilities - and the estimated price has doubled to $400m (£300m). Despite promises from Trump that the project wouldn't cost US taxpayers any money, Republicans have requested additional funds from Congress for security around the complex - at a time when Americans are struggling with rising living costs linked to the Iran war. The president indicated from the outset that the new ballroom is needed to "accommodate people for grand parties, State Visits", and more recently said it is "vital for National Security". BBC Verify has examined how the biggest change to the White House in decades has transformed over the past year. How did we get here? On 6 June last year, Trump announced on his social media platform Truth Social that he had inspected the site where a new ballroom would be built, promising it would "go up quickly" and would be "very much in keeping with the magnificent White House itself". "These are the 'fun' projects I do while thinking about the World Economy, the United States, China, Russia, and lots of other Countries, places, and events," he added. The following month his administration revealed plans for a new "White House State Ballroom" to be built where the "small, heavily changed, and reconstructed East Wing currently sits", adding that its "theme and architectural heritage will be almost identical" to the historic main building. The White House The proposal included mock-up images of what the ballroom could look like The statement said the ballroom promised to be a "much-needed and exquisite addition of approximately 90,000 total square feet of ornately designed and carefully crafted space". It added that the structure would be able to seat 650 people, a "significant increase" on the 200-seated capacity of the East Room in the main residence. The East Room is the primary space in the White House for official ceremonies and events and was used to host King Charles' state banquet in April. But larger events in recent years, such as French President Emmanuel Macron's state dinner in 2022 that had more than 300 guests, have been hosted in temporary tent structures built on the White House's south lawn. The administration said the ballroom's construction would start later that year and be completed "long before" the end of Trump's second term in January 2029. Trump later told reporters the ballroom "won't interfere with the current building… It'll be near it but not touching it and pays total respect to the existing building". But when Trump posted on Truth Social in October that "ground has been broken" at the White House,