Trump White House vanity project: Architect Shalom Baranes reveals latest plans for reconstructed East Wing

 

Rendering and headline:  Washington Post, 1/8/2026

Jonathan Edwards and Dan Diamond report on a possible change order already:

D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson, who has a seat on the panel, pressed Baranes on whether the ballroom’s height could be lowered, saying he was “concerned” the planned addition could overwhelm the White House mansion.

Baranes said it was “possible, not impossible,” to lower the ballroom’s height. 

The presentation comes as the White House begins an unusually compressed push to win approvals from two committees charged by Congress with reviewing federal construction. White House officials have said they intend to complete the process in just over two months, a timeline far shorter than comparable projects, former commissioners have said, placing added pressure on oversight bodies that the administration moved to stock with Trump allies. 

Baranes told the panel that the White House had abandoned plans to make the ballroom larger. But he said officials are now considering a one-story addition to the West Wing’s colonnade to create symmetry with the planned two-story colonnade that would lead from the White House to the ballroom building. Other features presented Thursday include an office suite for the first lady, a commercial kitchen and a rebuilt White House movie theater.  [change order emphasized]

Related posts:

January 2026

Dear AP headline writer.  Trump White House vanity project ballroom is not under construction.  What's being done is demolition and site preparation.  Best, Retiring Guy. (1/8)

Ballroom asbestos blitz.  (1/7)

Sleepy Don goes marble shopping.  (1/4)

Trump looks to ram his vanity project through planning process.  (1/2)

December 2025

White House ballroom vanity project:  Mainstream media leaves it to specialist to explain drone-free roof.   (12/30)

Trump unprecedented destruction.  (12/30)

“East Wing Modernization Project" on agenda for 1/8/2026 meeting of National Capital Planning Commission.  (12/28)

And the lawsuits just keep on comin'!  (12/24)

National Trust for Historic Preservative chair Carol Quillen doesn't seem to get the fact that Will Scharf and his fellow toadies were appointed to be Trump's mouthpieces.  (11/22)

What contractor in his right mind is willing to take on this fraught project?  (12/18)

So now it's a matter of national security!  (12/15)

White House ballroom:  AIA architects to Shalom Baranes, "Don't do it!"  (12/13)

USA Today reminds us that Sleepy Don's pile driver anecdote was pure bullshit.  (12/12)

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)