White House ballroom vanity project update: USA Today reminds us that Sleepy Don's pile driver anecdote was pure bullshit

 

Photo credit:  WTOP

Headline: USA Today, 12/10/2025

Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy reports:

While a portion of the White House grounds has been converted into a construction zone and Trump recently said the sound of piledrivers had been bothering first lady Melania Trump, construction on the new structure has not yet begun. 

The ear-piercing sounds are instead a result of the ongoing demolition work, according to a White House official. Construction will begin once the project is approved by the NCPC, the only planning body that has reviewing authority over the construction, according to the White House. Experts have called it a loophole in the federal law. The panel can provide recommendations, however, it lacks clear authority to reject the project.  [emphasis added]

Related posts:

December 2025

New photos show ongoing demolition and site preparation at site of latest Trump vanity project.  (12/10)

With Donald Trump, it's just one scam after another.  (12/7)

Quote from Shalom Baranes, Trump's new White House ballroom architect:  "My work would be impossible without my fellow immigrants".  (12/7)

Archinect News thinks Donald Trump and Shalom Baranes are a weird pairing.  (12/7)

White House ballroom price tag:  $200 million.  $300 million.  $350 million.  Do I hear $400 million?  (12/7)

Washington Business Journal editor-in-chief puzzles out why Shalom Baranes accepted White House ballroom commission.  (12/6)

Trump sez au revoir to McCrery Architects.  (12/5)

Above the law and all of those pesky building codes:  Trump tries to steamroll his way through the White House ballroom planning process.  (12/4)

White House Ballroom correction:  This is not construction; its demolition and site preparation. (12/4)

Sleepy Don sends a shot across the bow to White House ballroom architect James McCrery II (12/1)

November 2025

White House East Wing hallway will not be decorated for Christmas this year.  (11/30)

Portrait of a Sleepy and Insecure Man.  (11/30)

Compensation Chronicles:   Donald Trump ballroom design keeps getting bigger and bigger! (11/29)

White House ballroom vanity project:  Meet the Trump toadies serving on the National Capital Planning Commission.  (11/26)

Sleepy Don feuds with White House ballroom architect. (11/26)

Operations and maintenance costs for Trump's gilded ballroom will be paid for by taxpayers.  (11/25)

Why did demolition of the East Wing of White House proceed without formal review?  Ask Will Scharf, Assistant to the President and White House Staff Secretary.  (11/18)

White House Ballroom oversight gaps emerge: Let us count the ways  (Part 1:  National Capital Planning Commission).  (11/18)

That's assuming it even gets built by the end of 2028.  (11/16)

What did Donald Trump know about the demolition of the East Wing of White House and when did he know it?  (11/2)

What did Clark Construction know about the demolition of the East Wing of White House and when did they know it?.  (11/2)