Head of group suing over White House ballroom says she trusts Trump-picked chairman to do his job

The head of the National Trust for Historic Preservation expressed confidence Friday that the Trump-appointed chairman of a federal planning commission will conduct a thorough review of President Donald Trump’s controversial proposal to add a ballroom to the White House.

In an interview, National Trust President Carol Quillen said she takes Will Scharf, chairman of the National Capital Planning Commission, “at his word” following his December statement that the commission would give serious consideration to the White House plans once they are submitted.

“I take him at his word that the process will be conducted as it always is, deliberately and seriously, and that the commission will do its job,” Quillen said.

The ballroom project has already taken its first formal step in the review process. On Friday, the planning commission released its January meeting agenda, which includes an “information presentation” on the “East Wing Modernization Project” – typically the initial phase of project review.

The White House has not responded to repeated inquiries about when the complete ballroom plans will be shared with Scharf’s panel and the Commission of Fine Arts, both of which typically review major architectural changes to the executive mansion.

The National Trust, a private nonprofit organization chartered to protect historic sites, last week filed a lawsuit asking a federal court to halt construction until the project undergoes required independent reviews, public comment periods, and receives congressional approval. In response, government attorneys argued that the lawsuit was premature.

A federal judge denied the National Trust’s request for an immediate temporary restraining order this week but scheduled a January hearing on the organization’s motion for a preliminary injunction. If granted, such an injunction would pause all construction until the completion of reviews, a process that could take months.

Quillen emphasized that her organization is not simply asking for bureaucratic procedure. “The process inevitably leads to a better project because multiple independent parties get to comment on it,” she said, adding that the National Trust’s mission includes ensuring public participation in decisions affecting historic resources, “and the White House is arguably the nation’s most iconic building.”

The National Trust president explained that legal action was “our last resort” and noted the organization’s history of working collaboratively with administrations. During Trump’s first term, for instance, the administration properly submitted plans to the National Capital Planning Commission for new White House perimeter fencing and a tennis pavilion.

Trump’s ambitious ballroom project has moved at an unusually accelerated pace. The president has repeatedly complained that the East Room and State Dining Room are too small for major events and has criticized the practice of hosting state dinners in temporary structures on the South Lawn.

The proposed 90,000-square-foot ballroom would accommodate up to 999 people and would occupy the site where the East Wing stood for decades until Trump ordered its demolition in October — a move that “caught us by surprise,” according to Quillen. The president recently doubled the project’s estimated cost from $200 million to $400 million, though he has insisted no public funds will be used. White House officials have stated the ballroom will be completed before Trump’s term ends in January 2029.

In its legal filing, the National Trust contends that ballroom plans should have been submitted to the appropriate planning bodies and Congress before any demolition or site preparation began. The organization sent letters to these entities and the National Park Service, which oversees the White House grounds, on October 21, requesting a pause in the project and compliance with federal law. According to the lawsuit, these inquiries received no response.

Government attorneys counter that despite ongoing demolition and site preparation, final ballroom plans have not been completed. They note that actual construction isn’t expected to begin until April 2026 at the earliest. The administration further argues that the president has inherent authority to modify the White House, citing the mansion’s extensive history of alterations over more than two centuries, and maintains that statutes cited by the National Trust do not apply to presidential actions.