A new picture has shown the enormous scale of Donald Trump’s new ballroom being constructed at the White House.
The controversial new East Wing and State Ballroom complex is nearly double the size of the original iconic residence, which has been used as a residence by successive US Presidents since 1800.
It may not be slated for completion until September 2028, but the new aerial pic shows the new massive structure is quickly taking shape.
Former Democratic presidential candidate Hilary Clinton was among politicians to point out the disproportionate extension.
She wrote: ‘It says everything about Donald Trump that his gilded ballroom dwarfs the size of the People’s House—and it says everything about the American people that they repudiated him loudly and clearly last Tuesday.’
Not all the critics were political opponents, with former Republican congressman Joe Walsh branding the gargantuan building a ‘complete stain’ on the presidential residence.
The conservative radio personality urged future presidential candidates to pledge to ‘tear this monstrosity down’, adding the extension was a ‘national disgrace’.
Trump followed devastating midterm election defeats, in which a ‘blue tsunami’ saw Democrats take senate and congress seats in traditionally red states, with a visit to the construction site.
While watching the last steel beam being lifted into place, Trump insisted the ballroom would be the ‘safest place in Washington’.
‘It will be the most beautiful anywhere in the world’, he said of the venue, which is projected to seat between 900 and 1000 guests.
At 90,000 square feet, the new East Wing is more than six times the size its original 1902 predecessor.
By comparison the executive residence only spans 55,000 square feet.
The privately-funded project attracted several legal challenges, with the president hitting back by claiming the lavish extension, which will also house military facilities, a ‘state-of-the-art’ hospital and a bomb shelter, as national security issue.
Its original cost was cited at $200 million, which was then doubled to $400 million, with an estimate by the project’s contractor putting the budget at $600 million.
With Democrats now in control of both houses of Congress, Trump’s opponents will have more power to turn off the funding taps for his other major construction plans, including the Trump Triumphal Arch in Washington.
However it is unlikely to be able to slam the breaks on the ballroom, although politicians will have more scope to scrutinise the donors bankrolling it.
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