 "US President Donald Trump holds a rendering of the proposed new East Wing of the White House as he speaks to reporters aboard Air Force One en route from West Palm Beach, Fla., to Joint Base Andrews, Md., Sunday, March 29, 2026. AP")
It was supposed to be a secret project, but not anymore. The US military is building “a massive complex” underneath the ballroom at the spot of the White House’s former East Wing.
US President Donald Trump, who is reshaping the complex in his second term, had to speak again about the construction while aboard Air Force One on Sunday (March 29).
Trump stated that the military wanted it “more secret than anybody, but now it’s no secret, because of a stupid lawsuit.” The underground complex, with an approximate $400 million (around Rs 3,790 crore) price tag, is reportedly a matter of national security.
We take a look.
White House’s ‘massive complex’ project details
“…The military is building a massive complex under the ballroom , and that’s under construction, and we’re doing very well,” Trump told members of the press.
“We have all bullet-proof glass, we have drone-proof roofs, ceilings…and, unfortunately, we’re living in an age where that’s a good thing,” he added. According to Trump, the gleaming new ballroom will span 90,000 square feet and can accommodate up to 1,000 guests.
The POTUS then revealed a large rendering of the ballroom plans to the Journalists, claiming that other presidents longed for a similar ballroom for “150 years” to host dignitaries from other nations. The ballroom’s height will be the same as the White House, he added.
Trump described the underground construction as a “shed” shielding individuals from drones and other big things. “The glass, or the windows, you see the big windows, the glass is extremely thick. It’s high-grade bulletproof glass, so all of the windows are bulletproof,” Trump furthered.
However, experts have pointed to what they call “unnecessary features that are significantly larger than required.”
David Scott Parker, a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects and head of a firm focused on residential design and historic preservation, drew his review from design renderings and other materials submitted by the White House to the Commission of Fine Arts last month, the Associated Press (AP) reported.
Parker pointed out that the ballroom would span about 22,000 square feet (2,043 square metres), making it significantly larger than what would be required for 1,000 guests that Trump expects to host.
The design also includes a south-facing porch and staircase covering 4,000 square feet (372 square metres), which Parker called an “unnecessary feature.“According to him, they do not provide direct access to the building’s interior, and the porch fails to meet requirements under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The White House reportedly stated the ballroom would comply with federal accessibility laws, but it did not directly address Parker’s criticisms.
Trump defends ballroom, calls lawsuit “stupid”
Apprehensions over the scale of the project have furthered since the outset. But not for Trump.
He claims that the ballroom is fully funded by private donors, and no taxpayer or government money is being used at all. “It’s all donors subsidising the hefty ballroom cost, and not one dime of government money is going towards the project,” the US President stressed.
Defending the project further, Trump said that it was a “secret” construction, but not anymore because of a “stupid lawsuit”, as it refers to the fact that details about the ballroom project were made public even though they were meant to remain “secret.”
During a Cabinet meeting on Thursday (March 26), Trump said: “It was supposed to be secret, but it became un-secret because of people that are really unpatriotic saying things.”
Lawsuit makes underground plans public
The lawsuit that Trump called “stupid” was filed in December 2025 by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which argues that the president skipped over congressional approval.
It urged a federal judge to halt construction of the 90,000-square-foot ballroom until environmental reviews were completed and congressional approval was obtained.
US District Judge Richard Leon expressed scepticism over the construction project and its private donor funding on Thursday (March 26). It also hinted that a ruling in the National Trust’s lawsuit will come early this week, potentially leading to the project set to commence in April being stopped, Axios reported.
Trump’s admonition of the lawsuit last week was not the first time. In a Truth social post on January, the US President said, “It is being done with the design, consent, and approval of the highest levels of the United States Military and Secret Service. The mere bringing of this ridiculous lawsuit has already, unfortunately, exposed this heretofore top secret fact.”
The ballroom design has received over 9,000 pages of negative public comments.
Karoline Leavitt blasts NYT ballroom coverage
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt lashed out at The New York Times (NYT) over an article about the White House ballroom , describing the project as “unnecessarily big” and “very tall.”
Leavitt wrote on X, “The New York Times had three random people who have studied fine arts, long written about urban planning, and never built anything to write an article criticising the new White House ballroom.”
“President Trump and his lead architect have built world-class buildings around the world, and they are ensuring the People’s House finally has a beautiful ballroom that’s been needed for decades -at no expense to the taxpayer,” she added.
A spokesperson for The New York Times, Danielle Rhoades, responded to Leavitt: “Our article is based on interviews with architects, current and former government officials, and historical preservationists. It relies on public documentation of the building plans, and it quotes White House officials involved in the planning of the new ballroom.”
Adding, “Compared with other major projects in Washington, this one has had little time for public review, and experts warn the design has many issues. We’re confident in the accuracy of our story.”
Trump’s revamping of the complex has been in full swing since he assumed office for the second time. Last October, the Republican leader had the East Wing of the White House demolished to make way for a massive ballroom planned to host receptions and state dinners, according to reports.
That’s not all: Trump has renamed a prominent performance venue the “Trump-Kennedy Centre” and intends to construct a grand arch in Washington, modelled on Paris’s Arc de Triomphe.
With inputs from agencies