A planning agency stacked with Trump’s top White House aides has given the green light to his $400 million ballroom, days after a federal judge outraged the president by blocking it.
Despite community opposition, a court injunction, and various lawsuits, the National Capital Planning Commission on Thursday voted to approve the project and claimed that it would soon be viewed as “a national treasure.”
“I believe that in time, the nation and successive presidents of both parties and all political stripes, long into the future, will be grateful to President Trump for having initiated and brought this project into being,” the commission’s chairman, William Scharf, said as the group met to make their widely expected decision.
Scharf, a former personal lawyer to Trump who now serves as the White House staff secretary, was quietly appointed in July as chair of the NCPC, alongside two other Trump aides: Michael James Blair, who is a deputy chief of staff to Susie Wiles, and Stuart Levenbach, who works in the Office of Management and Budget headed by “Grim Reaper” Russell Vought.
Addressing the meeting, Blair also praised the president’s vision, declaring Trump was blending “great architecture with great hospitality” and creating a ballroom fit for a King.
“The King of England will be here at the end of the month, and we will likely dine in tents. When the president was recently in the United Kingdom, they dined in Windsor Castle. It’s a little bit different,” Blair said.
“We would say that it is not fitting of the presidency or the White House to have to invite the king of our oldest ally, and, you know, perhaps most loyal ally, to come and eat in tents on the White House lawn.”
Unsurprisingly, Trump was delighted with the decision, taking to Truth Social to post a photo of himself next to the ballroom construction site as he thanked the commission for approving the project.
“Even Board Member Rand Paul, known as an extremely difficult vote, voted a strong YES,” he said, referencing the Kentucky Senator who often speaks out against the president.
But the decision to approve the ballroom was not unanimous, with one commission member, Phil Mendelson, the chairman of the D.C. council, voting against it.
“It’s just too large,” he said.
It also comes days after U.S. District Judge Richard Leon granted a request for a preliminary injunction by the National Trust Preservation Committee to halt construction.
“The President of the United States is the steward of the White House for future generations of First Families. He is not, however, the owner!” wrote Leon, who was appointed by Republican President George W Bush.
Trump immediately appealed the decision and blasted the judge on social media. On Thursday, however, he was far happier.
“For more than 150 years, every President has dreamt about having a Ballroom at the White House to accommodate people for Grand Parties, State Visits, and even, in the Modern Day, Inaugurations,” he said.
“I’m honored to be the first President to get this much-needed project, which is on time and under budget, underway.”
The new ballroom will be privately funded by Trump and various ultra-wealthy corporate donors, including Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, and Palantir - all of whom have benefited from government contracts or deregulation.
Once built, the 90,000-square-foot space will accommodate up to 1,000 guests and dwarf the main White House building, which is about 55,000 square feet.
It will also feature a new colonnade, an underground military bunker, bulletproof glass, and a drone-proof room.
However, the commission was bombarded by 32,000 people submitting digital and handwritten notes to express their views, and about 97 percent of 9,000 comments from the public were against the ballroom.
One person referred to it as a “soulless hotel conference space,” and another called it a “fascist take on classism.” One commenter, who said she is a longtime resident of the Washington, D.C. area, added that Trump’s ballroom would be a “replica of his ‘gold plated lifestyle.’”
Scharf told the meeting that he personally read every comment submitted to the commission and many of the negative takes were “unresponsive” and “dealt with issues beyond the scope of this commission,” such as the funding, the demolition process, and Trump himself.
“We are not some sort of free-ranging ballroom justice commission,” he said, complaining the group had been “unfairly slighted in the press.”
White House spokesperson Davis Ingle told the Daily Beast: “The White House commends the National Capital Planning Commission’s decision to approve President Trump’s historic vision to build a much needed ballroom at the White House. We look forward to seeing the completion of this project on time and under budget.”
