The U.S. Commission of Fine Arts on Thursday approved a concept design and final design for a new White House ballroom and East Wing that President Donald Trump has championed.
The approval came despite widespread criticism of the project and from a commission that has been overhauled by the White House, just one day after Trump administration officials defended the appointment of Chamberlain Harris, 26, Trump’s longtime executive assistant, to the commission.
In October, as the Trump administration was accelerating plans to build a new ballroom, the White House fired all six previous members of the Commission of Fine Arts.
During Thursday's presentation to the new members of the commission, staff secretary Thomas Luebke, a nonvoting member, said the commission received more than 2,000 various messages from “all regions, urban areas, rural areas, all over.”
“They demonstrate a national concern, carrying across political, geographic, demographic boundaries,” Luebke added, saying that the comments were “overwhelmingly in opposition, over 99%, to this project.”
Commission Vice Chair James C. McCrery II recused himself, did not participate in the presentation and did not vote on the motions, citing his recent “direct involvement with the project.”
Other members of the commission include Chairman Rodney Mims Cook Jr., Mary Anne Carter, Roger Kimball, Pamela Hughes Patenaude, Matthew Taylor and Harris.
In a post on Truth Social on Thursday afternoon, Trump praised the commission, writing: "The Commission of Fine Arts just approved, unanimously, 6 to 0, with one recusal because he had a conflict in that he worked professionally on the job, the White House Ballroom. Great accolades were paid to the building's beauty and scale. Thank you to the members of the Commission!"
Trump's decision to demolish the previous East Wing and to build a new ballroom has drawn criticism from Democrats and preservation groups, like the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which sued in December to stop the ballroom construction. Later that month, a federal judge allowed construction to move forward.
Now, plans for the ballroom and East Wing redesign head to the National Capital Planning Commission, which is led by Trump appointees, for a March 5 meeting.
Some of the major changes noted in the presentation include the removal of several pediments and changes to the base and other parts of the ballroom to account for elevation. Other changes included the addition of arched windows in certain locations.
Architect Rick Parisi detailed the construction of the new East Garden and explained that it would include the evergreen holly trees that were preserved during demolition as well as new boxwood hedges and new perennial beds. The garden would also feature the original Mount Vernon brick and the original fountain, which was "dismantled, preserved and will be rebuilt," he said. The garden plans also incorporate cast-iron benches along the pathways of the new East Garden.
Trump promoted the construction of the new ballroom on Wednesday during remarks at a Black History Month event at the White House.
"We have a ballroom being built, so in about a year and a half, we’ll be able to have about 10, let’s say 10 times the number" of attendees in the room, the president said.
"See that a curtain? You open that curtain and it’s a beautiful funnel right into the most beautiful ballroom that is being built right now," Trump added. "So it’s pretty, and they wanted it for 150 years, getting a lot thing, getting a lot of other things done too."
The president has also promoted the fact that he recruited donors to pay for the construction of the ballroom.
"Will be the Greatest Ballroom ever built, now rising at the site of the White House — Fully paid for by American Patriot Donors. ZERO cost to our United States Taxpayers!" he wrote in a post on Truth Social on Wednesday.
In December, the president estimated that the project would cost $400 million.
