Trump's $300M White House Ballroom Faces Lawsuits

Demolition of the 123-year-old East Wing has begun to make way for a privately funded, roughly 90,000-square-foot ballroom now estimated to cost about $300 million. Senior administration officials and multiple outlets report it is already being called — and will likely be named — “The President Donald J. Trump Ballroom,” though the White House says any official announcement will come from the president. The price has risen from Mr. Trump's earlier $100 million estimate to roughly $300 million, with private donors and the president himself said to be covering costs. Published donor lists and reporting name tech and corporate executives — including Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Meta — prompting conflict-of-interest and quid-pro-quo concerns. Critics and Democrats condemned the demolition amid a government shutdown and reportedly without some usual approvals, and at least two lawsuits have been filed seeking to halt construction; the White House defends the project as beautification that will not burden taxpayers.