In a recent statement, President Donald Trump made it clear that he has no intention of naming a $300 million ballroom after himself. This announcement comes in response to circulating reports suggesting such a proposal.
As he prepared to leave the White House for an Asia trip on Friday, Trump firmly denied any plans to brand the ballroom with his name. He stated, “I don’t have any plan to call it after myself. That was fake news. We’ll probably call it the presidential ballroom or something like that.”
Despite Trump’s remarks, an ABC News report surfaced on Friday indicating that officials have already been informally referring to the venue as “The President Donald J Trump Ballroom.”
Furthermore, a document listing donors to the project, released by the White House, also names the ballroom as “the President Donald J. Trump Ballroom,” according to the report.
The president’s comments aimed to dispel the rumors, which had been met with criticism and disapproval from many quarters.
The president’s clarification came after the alleged proposed name was met with derision and disgust by many.
Images emerged this week of the entire East Wing of the White House being demolished to make way for the 90,000-square-foot ballroom.
The President made his career in New York real estate by slapping his name on the side of skyscrapers.
Trump shot down suggestions by officials that the ballroom would be named after him as ‘fake news’
Pictures emerged earlier this week of the East Wing being demolished, the location of the proposed ballroom
The White House has stated that the ballroom will be completed before Trump leaves office in January 2029 but have not offered a specific timeline. Experts have said that this goal is ambitious.
‘I won’t get into that now,’ Trump said on Thursday with a smile when asked by ABC News if he has a name for the ballroom.
The White House claims they have raised $350million for the ballroom project with estimates suggesting it will cost more than the initial $300million budget.
A White House official said Trump ‘has received such positive and overwhelming support for the ballroom that he continues to receive donations’.
Trump has repeatedly claimed he plans to donate millions of dollars of his own to the ballroom’s construction.
The project’s private donors includes executives from world’s top technology corporations, including Google, Meta, Amazon, and Microsoft.
Trump had originally claimed that the 83-year-old building wouldn’t be touched in the construction of the $250million privately funded ballroom.
But when a backhoe was pictured on Monday smashing through the walls of the historic building, it set off alarm bells.
First Lady Melania Trump, meanwhile, has been silent about the demolition despite the fact the East Wing holds the offices of her entire staff.
The White House has stated that the ballroom will be completed before Trump leaves office in January 2029. Pictured: A rendering of the renovations
White House tours are now halted for the general public during the ballroom’s construction.
The President held up pictures of the ornate ballroom during the meeting and a model of how the complex will look once the new wing was completed.
‘In order to do it properly, we had to take down the existing structure,’ the President explained inside the Oval Office on Wednesday as he hit out at the photos that were released of the demolition.
The White House was initially cagey about what the plans for the East Wing were, with suggestions that part of the structure would remain intact.
Trump, announcing the ballroom earlier this year, claimed: ‘It won’t interfere with the current building. It’ll be near it but not touching it and pays total respect to the existing building, which I’m the biggest fan of.’
Traditionally, past presidents do not name monuments or structures inside or outside the White House after themselves especially while they are in office.
President Harry S Truman commissioned extensive reconstruction to the White House, including a balcony that was named in his honor after he left office.
Daily Mail has contacted the White House for comment.
