WASHINGTON – The People’s House is under construction – and scrutiny.
What we know:
Major construction on the East Wing of the White House began this week.
It’s part of a plan to build a new ballroom that is expected to be about 90,000 total square feet, with a seated capacity of 600 people. It will cost upwards of $200 million, according to White House officials, who added that the money would be donated by President Donald Trump and others.
What they’re saying:
“They’ve wanted a ballroom for 150 years,” President Trump said Monday. “We’ll have the most beautiful ballroom in the country.”
Meanwhile, administration officials released a statement Tuesday calling detractors of the plan “unhinged leftists … clutching their pearls.” The press release included pictures of previous work done to the White House, which the officials said has been renovated, expanded, and modernized for more than 100 years.
The other side:
“I think Thomas Jefferson, poor old TJ, his head would’ve exploded if he had seen this,” former Chief Historian for the White House Historical Association Edward Lengel told Fox 5.
Lengel said he agrees with the Trump Administration that presidents have wanted more event space for many years, and that there have been plenty of changes to the White House previously. However, Lengel added that he believes the current plans for the new White House ballroom are the opposite of what the country’s Founding Fathers intended.
“What this does in the construction of the ballroom, takes us towards a presidential palace and a palatial complex for entertainment that dwarfs the residence,” Lengell explained, adding, “it runs counter to their vision of the executive mansion as being the People’s House.”
What’s next:
The White House said the ballroom is expected to be completed long before the end of President Trump’s term.
The Source: The White House, Edward Lengel