'Says everything you need to know about this President': Photo showing Trump's White House ballroom's size draws backlash from House Democrats

Freshly-released pictures showing the new White House ballroom's size have led to criticism from several Democratic Representatives. The images suggest that the under-construction structure may be notably taller than the executive residence. The ballroom is one of President Donald Trump's pet projects as part of his "beautification" drive, and is being built after the demolition of the White House's historic East Wing.

'Bigger than the rest of White House'

Democratic Rep. James Clyburn slammed the ballroom's size in a post on social media. "I hope everyone takes a good hard look at this picture," Clyburn said Wednesday evening as he attached a photo of the construction zone.


"Trump’s under-construction ballroom is now bigger than the rest of the White House. Much bigger. The contrast says everything you need to know about this President and his priorities," the South Carolina lawmaker added in the post.

Rep. Morgan McGarvey posted the same photo on his X account on Thursday, highlighting inflation in the US. "This is what Trump is doing while millions of Americans can’t afford rent," the 46-year-old lawmaker from Kentucky said.


The ballroom is one of the several projects Trump has ordered as part of his efforts to renovate the White House since returning to office last January. The project had faced legal challenges, but the Supreme Court later ruled that construction of the 90,000-square-foot ballroom could go ahead.

Trump hails ballroom project

At a presser shortly after the midterm elections, the president signed the final beam in the ballroom’s construction zone as he stood with workers and other officials.

Trump called the ballroom “the most powerful building structurally...they say ever built and it was designed that way so the president can have safety.”

"It’s been the dream of presidents to have a ballroom for 150 years," he added. Trump's Republican Party suffered heavy losses in the Nov. 3 midterm elections, with the Democrats securing control of both chambers of the Congress.

In his first executive order after the election results, Trump signed a proclamation designating the Oval Office and the Cabinet Room of the White House as a "national monument", saying that doing so would prevent future presidents from tearing down or undoing his redesigns of the spaces.