Ballroom above, bunker below: Trump's White House project faces a pivotal week
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President Trump holds a rendering of the East Wing modernization as he speaks to reporters aboard Air Force One about plans for a military bunker below. Photo: Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images
President Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday that the military "is building a massive complex" under the White House ballroom that's under construction — adding fresh intrigue to an already controversial renovation.
Why it matters: Major changes to the White House are rare — but Trump is rapidly reshaping the complex in his second term, often sidestepping traditional approval processes.
Driving the news: Trump said the $400 million ballroom "actually becomes a shed for what's being built" underneath by the military.
- Outfitted with bulletproof windows, "drone-proof roofs" and his favored Corinthian columns, the ballroom is weeks "ahead of schedule and under budget," with "not one dime of government money going into the ballroom."
- A closed porch will have views of the Washington Monument, Jefferson Memorial and Lincoln Memorial.
What he's saying: "I'm so busy that I don't have time to do this," Trump said. "I'm fighting wars and other things. But this is very important, because this is gonna be with us for a long time … I think it'll be the greatest ballroom anywhere in the world."
The intrigue: White House officials told reporters that the underground complex is a matter of national security and declined to offer further details.
Context: Subterranean White House facilities aren't new. The Presidential Emergency Operations Center (PEOC) was created during WWII to protect President Franklin D. Roosevelt in case of an attack.
- It's been used during crises like 9/11 and in times of unrest, including the 2020 George Floyd protests, when Trump was moved to the bunker.
- CNN reported in January that the existing PEOC had been "dismantled" during Trump's East Wing demolition and that a new, modernized facility was in the works.
More intrigue: Officials have suggested the classified underground work is why White House construction moved ahead without National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) approval.
- White House official Joshua Fisher told the NCPC that the overall project would boost "mission-critical functionality," make "necessary security enhancements," and create "resilient, adaptive infrastructure" for future needs, according to CNN.
- In a court filing to stop the East Wing demolition, officials warned that halting the work would "endanger national security."
Between the lines: In a city where it's difficult to build up, the Trump administration is going underground. Earlier this month, it sent a proposal to the NCPC for a 33,000-square-foot screening facility for White House visitors below Sherman Park.
Friction point: The ballroom design got more than 9,000 pages of negative public comments, but the NCPC, chaired by a top Trump official, is expected to vote to approve the project at its Thursday meeting.
- Local officials like D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson, a member of the NCPC, are still voicing concerns about the addition overwhelming the White House: "I am disturbed about the height," he told reporters Monday.
Meanwhile, the National Trust for Historic Preservation has sued to halt the project, arguing that the president skipped over congressional approval.
What's next: In addition to the Thursday vote, U.S. District Judge Richard Leon, who's expressed skepticism over the project and its private donor funding, signaled that a ruling on the National Trust's lawsuit will come early this week — potentially halting the ballroom construction that's set to start in April.