White House to Present Updated Plans for Trump’s Ballroom

After pressure from preservationists, the administration is expected to present the plans to a planning commission and make them public for the first time.

The Trump administration expects to present updated plans for the president’s new 90,000-square-foot ballroom to the National Capital Planning Commission on Thursday, a senior administration official said on Monday.

Under pressure from historic preservationists to submit the new ballroom project to a formal review process, administration officials say they submitted applications on Dec. 22 to both the National Capital Planning Commission and the Commission of Fine Arts that contained plans and drawings for the project already available on the White House’s website.

But on Thursday, the administration expects to present updated plans to the public for the first time. The meeting is expected to be live-streamed.

President Trump surprised many in October when he abruptly tore down one side of the White House, demolishing the entire East Wing, which contained the historical offices of the first lady, to make way for his new ballroom. The president has repeatedly pushed to increase the size of the ballroom, more than doubling initial plans. At the same time, Mr. Trump has told people working on the project that he does not need to follow permitting, zoning or code requirements because the structure is on White House grounds and he has the final say.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation filed a federal lawsuit seeking to block the construction of a large new ballroom on White House grounds, arguing that Mr. Trump violated at least four laws in bypassing any review process.

Facing legal obstacles, the administration now says it plans to submit its final plan for the ballroom to the planning commission by the end of the month and present that plan publicly in February and March. The White House expects to make final presentations to the Commission of Fine Arts on Feb. 19 and to the National Capital Planning Commission on March 5.

A federal judge has allowed the project to proceed because of the administration’s pledges to undergo review. The Justice Department has argued in court that the sudden demolition of the East Wing, which prompted an outcry, cannot be undone but that the administration will submit to a review process going forward.

Mr. Trump has already begun remaking the composition of the panels that will review his plans for the ballroom.

He has installed his former personal lawyer as the chairman of the National Capital Planning Commission. That lawyer, Will Scharf, has said there was no need to review Mr. Trump’s plans before he ordered the demolition of the East Wing.

Mr. Trump has also fired the entire board of the Commission of Fine Arts, an independent federal agency that was established by Congress to advise the president on urban planning and historical preservation.

A senior White House official said the president was working to appoint a new slate of members to that commission who were “more aligned with President Trump’s America First policies.”

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