{"id":28140,"date":"2026-03-29T21:05:44","date_gmt":"2026-03-29T21:05:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/2026\/03\/29\/fake-windows-blocked-views-and-stairs-leading-to-nowhere-how-architects-destroyed-trumps-300-million-white-house-ballroom\/"},"modified":"2026-03-29T21:05:58","modified_gmt":"2026-03-29T21:05:58","slug":"fake-windows-blocked-views-and-stairs-leading-to-nowhere-how-architects-destroyed-trumps-300-million-white-house-ballroom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/2026\/03\/29\/fake-windows-blocked-views-and-stairs-leading-to-nowhere-how-architects-destroyed-trumps-300-million-white-house-ballroom\/","title":{"rendered":"Fake windows, blocked views and stairs leading to nowhere: How architects destroyed Trump&#8217;s $300 million White House ballroom"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"MwN2O\">\n<div class=\"vdo_embedd\">\n<div class=\"T22zO\">\n<section class=\"D3Wk1  clearfix id-r-component leadmedia undefined undefined  VtlfQ \" style=\"top:0px\">\n<div class=\"D3Wk1\" data-ua-type=\"1\" onclick=\"stpPgtnAndPrvntDefault(event)\">\n<div class=\"zPaFh\">\n<div class=\"wJnIp\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Architects and design experts have raised concerns about US President Donald Trump&#8217;s controversial plan to build a new White House ballroom, warning that the proposal has major design flaws and risks altering one of America&#8217;s most historic buildings.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"2\"\/>It is estimated that the cost of adding the ballroom will be between $300 million and $400 million. It is planned to replace the East Wing of the White House and has been criticized by professionals who say the design is impractical and disruptive.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"4\"\/>Many architectural critics pointed out features of the plans which they said made no sense. They noted &#8220;fake windows on the north side&#8221;, interior columns that block views into the space, stairs that lead to nowhere, and an excessively large roof area.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"8\"\/>These flaws were mentioned in a detailed report published by The New York Times, which examined a mock-up of the ballroom ahead of the crucial National Capital Planning Commission vote on April 2. The commission reviews major changes to federal property, including the White House grounds.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"10\"\/> <span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"12\"\/><\/p>\n<div data-pos=\"0\" class=\"id-r-component QbQNS undefined  &#10;        \">\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"(Source: White Hoes)\" msid=\"129887164\" width=\"\" title=\"\" placeholdersrc=\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/photo\/83033472.cms\" imgsize=\"\" resizemode=\"4\" offsetvertical=\"0\" placeholdermsid=\"47529300\" type=\"thumb\" class=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/photo\/msid-129887164\/source-white-hoise.jpg\" data-api-prerender=\"true\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p> <span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"15\"\/>Experts say the ballroom will be three times the size of the main White House residence, which will disrupt the historic symmetry of the Rashtrapati Bhavan. &#8220;The hasty review, with construction cranes already looming above the White House grounds, is an abrupt departure from how new monuments, museums and even minor renovations have been designed and refined in the capital for decades,&#8221; the Times reported, citing architectural experts.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"19\"\/>The east wing was demolished in October 2025 to make way for the project, a move that sparked its own controversy as it occurred before full planning approval was received.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"22\"\/>Public opposition has been strong. According to a review of comments submitted to planning bodies, almost 98 per cent of the more than 32,000 public responses opposed the ballroom plan, calling it excessively large and inappropriate for the historic site.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"24\"\/>Amid voices of dissent, Kate Schwensen, former national president of the American Institute of Architects, said the design was so flawed that students submitting similar work would have failed academically.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"27\"\/>Trump supporters in the Planning Commission and the MAGA base have pushed the project, and the White House has said the ballroom will be privately funded using money from donors. Nevertheless, conservation groups have raised legal challenges, arguing that proper review and congressional approval were ignored.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"29\"\/><\/p>\n<p><h2>The White House responded<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"31\"\/>White House press secretary Carolyn Leavitt criticized those who criticized Trump&#8217;s ballroom design as &#8220;flawed.&#8221; <!-- -->He criticized the NYT report in a post on<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"35\"\/>He added: &#8220;President Trump and his chief architect have built world-class buildings around the world, and they are ensuring that the People&#8217;s House finally has the beautiful ballroom it has needed for decades \u2013 at no cost to the taxpayer.&#8221;<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"37\"\/><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Architects and design experts have raised concerns about US President Donald Trump&#8217;s controversial plan to build a new White House ballroom, warning that the proposal has major design flaws and risks altering one of America&#8217;s most historic buildings.It is estimated that the cost of adding the ballroom will be between $300 million and $400 million.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":28141,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[12291,12292,4232,5217,3228,496,4240,375,10554,440,2349,1241,5776],"class_list":["post-28140","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bible-news","tag-architects","tag-ballroom","tag-blocked","tag-destroyed","tag-fake","tag-house","tag-leading","tag-million","tag-stairs","tag-trumps","tag-views","tag-white","tag-windows"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28140","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28140"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28140\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28142,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28140\/revisions\/28142"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28141"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28140"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28140"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/christiancorner.us\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}