BeeLine: A Builder At Heart

There continues to be complaints by Democrats and the liberal media about President Trump's plans to build a ballroom addition as part of a new East Wing of The White House.

This is despite the fact that the old East Wing has already been demolished, construction is ongoing and an attempted assassination of the President at a less than secure hotel ballroom in Washington, DC is fresh in everyone's mind.

A lawsuit by those who oppose the White House renovation is moving forward even though the Department of Justice made a request for the plaintiffs to drop the lawsuit.

Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/04/27/trump-ballroom-whcd-doj-lawsuit.html

I wrote about the ballroom project and dispelled many of the myths about it in a blog post last August just before construction began.

One of the biggest myths was that Trump was wasting taxpayer dollars.

The fact is that it is all being paid for by Trump and private donors.

The White House cannot currently host any more than 200 for a dinner or other gathering.

It does not have any rooms that can accommodate anything larger.

Large state dinners require the construction of a temporary tent on the premises.

The tent look is not exactly in keeping with what you would expect from the nation's executive mansion.

On the other hand, the new Ballroom looks spectacular and can seat up to 1.000.

I also pointed out that none of the improvements were going to benefit Trump in any meaningful way.

The ballroom and the attendant facilities will not be completed until the final few months of his term (expected completion is late 2028) even if everything stays on schedule.

Trump is doing all of this to benefit future occupants of The White House and the nation.

He is looking at this as a legacy project that will be an asset to the country that will last well beyond his time on earth.

All of the controversy was put into better perspective for me recently as I read a book written by the Chief Usher of The White House, J.B. West, who served from the time of FDR until Nixon.

This was the man charged with running White House operations, its maintenance and any construction projects, for six Presidents.

In the book he recounts many controversies dealing with changes to the The White House buildings and grounds during his tenure.

The East Wing was not even added to The White House until shortly after World War II began when the primary objective was the need to build a bomb shelter on the grounds. The East Wing was built over it to to disguise the bomb shelter and provide additional office space needed for the war effort.

The East Wing that was demolished to make way for the new Ballroom was hurriedly constructed in less than nine months largely to disguise a bomb shelter.

It was almost one hundred years old and from all reports was in need of much repair.

This makes it of "historical significance" to never be touched again?

You can be assured that the Ballroom will sit above a much improved and secure bomb shelter and much more when it is completed.

West also shared the story of how Harry Truman wanted to construct a balcony directly above the South Portico of The White House.

This was intended to protect the portico below from the elements as well as allow the First Family direct access to a porch area above.

Truman wanted a nice area to sit in the evening overlooking the Washington Monument as well as removing awnings that he intensely disliked which were used to keep the sun and weather from the lower portico.

This is what the South Portico looked like before the Truman balcony was added.

Credit: http://www.tysto.com/floor2/truman-balcony.htm

Truman's idea was met with a storm of criticism, which according to West, included "a hullabaloo through the entire country about that balcony and how it would destroy America's heritage." They called it 'Truman's folly".

The Fine Arts Commission in D.C. (who advise and approve architectural plans for the nation's capital) refused to approve the change.

Truman said, "The hell with them; I'm going to do it anyway" he told West and others.

He did it and shortly after replaced the chairman of the Fine Arts Commission who was the biggest critic of the project.

This is what The White House looks with the Truman Balcony today.

Credit: https://drpence.wordpress.com/2014/07/03/upstairs-at-the-white-house/

It seems like a big improvement to me. What did the Fine Arts Commission know?

You can appreciate it even more if you are standing on that balcony as the President or First Lady.

What a view!

Credit: https://www.whitehouse.gov/gallery/independence-day/

Trump was a little smarter about the Ballroom project. He got the Fine Arts Commission (all Trump appointees) to approve the project so he did not have to say "to hell with them" like Harry did.

Trump was also smarter in that he put his own money behind what he wanted to do and lined up private donations to fund the project rather than rely on congressional funding.

A common theme that runs through the West book is the ongoing problem of finding money to fund the improvements and enhancements that the President and/or First Lady needed to fund their projects. The last thing any of them wanted to do was to go to Congress for the funds.

That was true even when Jackie Kennedy undertook her Rose Garden project and the major revamp and renovation of The White House she undertook during the term of her husband. No funds were forthcoming from the Kennedy fortune to put into any government property. Kennedy money apparently was only used to benefit the Kennedys.

Most projects were funded with creative accounting or having it paid out of another executive branch budget.

Say what you want about Trump but he has been willing to use his own money or find private donations for improvements to The White House.

He did it for the rework of The Rose Garden in which he replaced the grass in the middle with pavers to make the space more functional for large crowds.

Updated Rose Garden where women and others no longer have their shoes sink into wet grass

He also recently used his own funds to pay for redoing the West Wing Colonnade walkway from decades-old flagstone to a flame-finished, non-slip charcoal black granite.

Here is President Trump and King Charles walking on the newly installed walkway that Trump paid for with his personal funds.

Source: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/i-spotted-king-charles-telling-off-mic-comment-directly-after-donald-trump-s-speech/ar-AA21VQhZ

I continue to be amazed at the antagonism and animosity that President Trump engenders no matter what he does.

When it comes to renovations and improvements at The White House it seems that he has not been alone.

There seem have been plenty over the years that would like to see the President's house frozen in time based on some "historical significance" or "heritage" argument.

Preservationists must like the days when everyone lived in tents, nights were only lit with candlelight and there was an outhouse at the back of The White House.

Thank goodness we have a President who is more concerned with making the future better than living in the past.

There is nothing that shows that more graphically than the renovation that Trump recently did to the bathroom that adjoins the famous Lincoln bedroom at The White House.

This is the bathroom that Trump inherited to begin his second term.

Does this look like anything fit for the Executive Mansion in the year 2025?

I have stayed in run down motels with better facilities.