Former White House adviser David Axelrod revealed this week that President Trump once offered to personally fund a new White House ballroom during the Obama administration — an offer that, at the time, generated little controversy.
In an interview with The New York Times published Tuesday, Axelrod said Trump first reached out in the aftermath of the 2010 BP oil spill cleanup. According to Axelrod, Trump proposed paying for a new space to host state dinners and gatherings for world leaders, noting that such events were often held in temporary outdoor tents.
Axelrod recalled Trump saying, “I build ballrooms, I build the greatest — you can ask anybody, my ballrooms are the greatest ballrooms.”
Trump added, “You have these state dinners, and you have them in these shitty little tents out in the backyard. Let me build a modular ballroom that you can assemble when you have state dinners, so it’ll look good,” according to Axelrod.
At the time, Axelrod said he told Trump he would pass the proposal along to the appropriate White House official.
“I said: ‘Well, that’s really nice of you. I’m going to pass this on to the social secretary and I’ll have her call you,’” Axelrod told The Times, adding, “I did. She didn’t.”
The idea ultimately went nowhere.
Years later, however, Trump moved forward with plans for a permanent White House ballroom — a project designed to accommodate significantly more guests and modernize state functions. The $400 million initiative, funded primarily by private donors, has drawn fierce criticism from Democratic lawmakers, pundits, and former Obama-era officials after demolition work began on part of the East Wing late last year.
Axelrod himself sharply criticized the project in a post on X.
“This image of the East Wing of the White House is a metaphor for broader, reckless destruction,” he wrote. “The ballroom that will go up there will be a gaudy monument to vanity, corruption and excess. For anyone who has worked at the WH, or cares about its rich history, it’s a gut punch.”
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former first lady Michelle Obama, and several historic preservation groups have echoed similar concerns.
Supporters of the project, however, point out that Trump’s original offer to build a ballroom during the Obama years was met with indifference rather than outrage — raising questions about whether the current backlash is driven more by politics than preservation.
The Trump administration has defended the project as a long-overdue upgrade that will eliminate the need for temporary outdoor structures and enhance the White House’s ability to host major diplomatic events. Officials have repeatedly described the ballroom as a “gift” to the American people.
Trump underscored that message last month on Truth Social.
“All of the Structural Steel, Windows, Doors, A.C./Heating Equipment, Marble, Stone, Precast Concrete, Bulletproof Windows and Glass, Anti-Drone Roofing, and much more, has been ordered (or is ready to be), and there is no practical or reasonable way to go back. IT IS TOO LATE! …” he wrote.
“Congress never tried, or wanted, to stop the Ballroom Project! Everyone knew what was taking place at the White House — A great, big, beautiful gift to the United States of America!” he added.
