The White House announces a new $ 200 million ballroom

The White House has announced its intention to build a new $ 200 million ballroom (151 million pounds sterling), making an often repeated desire for US President Donald Trump.

The new ballroom will be built alongside a wing is “modernized” from the White House, which currently houses the offices of the First Lady Melania Trump and other key posts in the White House.

The money will be given directly by Trump and other anonymous donors, with work starting in September, according to press secretary Karoline Leavitt.

Trump has repeatedly promised to build a “beautiful” ballroom in the White House and, in 2016, proposed to pay $ 100 million during the administration of Barack Obama – which the president of the time rejected.

In a briefing for journalists at the White House Thursday, Leavitt said that “the essential and exquisite addition” to the White House would be around 90,000 square feet (8,360 m²) with a seats of around 650.

Many formal functions of the White House take place in the eastern room of the White House, which can accommodate around 200 people.

The new ballroom, added Leavitt, would also eliminate the need for a “large unsightly tent” to install for state dinners and other major events, which sometimes include world leaders.

According to Leavitt, construction should be completed “long before” the end of Trump’s mandate in January 2029.

“Trump’s president and White House are fully determined to work with the appropriate organizations to preserve the special history of the White House, while building a beautiful ballroom which can be appreciated by future administrations and generations of Americans to come,” said chief of staff Susie Wiles in a press release.

The renderings provided by the White House show that the ballroom will be similar architectural to the rest of the White House, with a sumptuous interior including chandeliers and ornate columns.

“The White House has a history of expansion to meet the changing needs of the Country Director General of the country,” Leslie Greene Bowman, who served the White House preservation committee, told BBC.

“I hope and trust that any proposed project will honor and preserve the existing walls that have witnessed so many history. These are precious ships of our inheritance as a democracy.”

The offices housed in the eastern wing of the White House adjacent to the construction – including that of the First Lady Melania Trump – will be temporarily relocated.

President Trump has repeatedly expressed his wishes for a new ballroom as part of the White House renovations, which has already seen the installation of two large masts, new gold decorations in the oval and bulldozer office and the paving of the famous Rose Garden.

“There has never been a president who is good in the ballrooms,” said Trump at an event in the White House on Thursday. “I am gifted to build things.”

Trump added that “they always had to get tents” for major events in the White House, which he described as a disaster. “It’s not a nice view.”

Earlier this week at a Scottish meeting with the president of the European Council, Ursula van der Leyen, Trump told her that “we build a large ballroom in the White House”

“No president knew how to build a ballroom,” said Trump when he was sitting in another ballroom in his Turnberry Golf Resort. “I could take this one, drop it there, and it would be beautiful.”

In 2016, when he was on the campaign campaign during the administration of Barack Obama, Trump offered to contribute $ 100 million to build a new ballroom so that the White House can use events.

At the time, the press secretary, Josh Earnest, said that suggestion was “not something that was seriously considered”.

“I’m not sure it would be appropriate to have a shiny Trump of Golden Panel … on any part of the White House,” journalists told resest.

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