Trump hires new architect for White House ballroom amid clashes over project
The $300 million ballroom will hold up to 1,000 guests and is privately funded; the project faced delays and criticism over its size and demolition of the East Wing.
- On Thursday, President Donald Trump tapped Shalom Baranes, architect and head of Shalom Baranes Associates, to lead the 90,000-square-foot ballroom after the White House East Wing was demolished this fall.
- After reported disputes, sources say Trump and James McCrery clashed over the ballroom's size and fit, and White House officials say Baranes was brought in as the project enters a new phase while McCrery remains a consultant.
- As the project ballooned, costs rose from $200 million to $300 million, and seating estimates expanded from 650 to 900 and 999, President Donald Trump said.
- Will Scharf said the plans will be submitted to the NCPC later in December for formal review, while the administration says private donors will pay, critics note those are pledges, not cash.
- Preservationists warn the scale marks the largest White House construction in decades, while 56% of Americans oppose the East Wing demolition and ballroom project, raising permit and oversight concerns.
121 Articles
121 Articles
Sun-Sentinel
Trump’s new White House ballroom architect is a Jewish immigrant who has advocated for refugees
After parting ways with the first architect hired to carry out his vision for the White House’s East Wing, President Donald Trump has picked a replacement — turning to a firm run by prominent Jewish architect who once called on Trump to keep the country’s doors open to refugees and immigrants. Shalom Baranes was born soon after his parents fled Libya amid antisemitic sentiment there, coming to the United States as a child with the help of the He…
Trump SLAMS "Stupid and Nasty" Caitlin Collins, Says "FAKE NEWS CNN, and the Guy who Runs the Whole Corrupt Operation that Owns it, is One of the Worst in the Business"
President Trump made a Social post on Saturday morning, slamming CNN’s Caitlin Collins for questioning the cost of his new ballroom construction. “Always Stupid and Nasty,” he said of Collins, who “asked me why the new Ballroom was costing more money than originally thought one year ago.” “I said because it is going to be double the size, and the quality of finishes and interiors has been brought to the highest level.
One of the first things to be done when sanity and legality are restored
Trump isn’t just destroying the White House to make room for a vanity ballroom — he’s selling it off to the highest bidders, who conveniently need favors from his regime.The giant ballroom is Trump’s monument to corruption. Google and Amazon are both chipping in with massive donations. They both just so happen to have massive antitrust lawsuits working their way through the courts. Amazon is also suing to get the National Labor Relations Board d…
The architect's firm that was in office until October is considered too small to meet the deadlines. President wants to inaugurate the project before leaving office, just over three years from now
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