President Donald Trump is finally getting his White House ballroom. 

‘It’ll be a great legacy project and I think it’ll be special,’ the president said Thursday.

Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, revealed in her briefing that starting in September, a 90,000 square foot expansion to the East Wing will commence, featuring Trump’s much-desired $200 million ballroom.

In April, the Daily Mail disclosed that Trump had initiated the proposal for a White House ballroom in 2010, during President Barack Obama’s tenure and prior to Trump’s entry into politics.

He said Thursday he had made it a second term goal. 

‘During my first term, I mentioned that if given another opportunity, I would add a ballroom,’ Trump remarked. ‘I was quite occupied initially, managing the nation and contending with various challenges for my survival.’

Leavitt indicated that the new ballroom would be located in the current East Wing of the White House, stating that the building would undergo ‘modernization’ when asked about the potential removal of parts of the East Wing, first built in 1902.

Presently, the East Wing, separate from the main White House residence, accommodates the offices of the first lady, the White House Military Office, and the White House Visitors Office.

On Thursday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced the September start of construction for a White House ballroom, showing design renderings to the reporters present.

The White House released visuals of the new ballroom on Thursday. The current East Wing of the White House will be ‘modernized’ and 90,000 square feet of new space will be added in a project funded by President Donald Trump and donors 

A second story had been added in 1942.  

Leavitt said the staff of those offices would be relocated during construction. 

The ballroom project, funded largely by private donors, is expected to be finished before the end of Trump’s term, she said. 

‘I’ll do it and we’ll probably have some donors or whatever, but it’s about $200 million,’ the president answered.  

When Trump originally pitched the ballroom to top Obama adviser David Axelrod in 2010 Axelrod later said he didn’t remember the now-president offering to pay for the project. 

During a subsequent interview on Rush Limbaugh’s radio show, Trump voiced annoyance that the Obama White House wouldn’t take him up on his offer. 

The current White House residence can be seen (left) in a rendering of the new White House ballroom, which will extend and replace portions of the current East Wing (right) 

A view of the renovated and expanded White House East Wing from the East. The ballroom project will expand the East Wing by 90,000 square feet

The updated East Wing will have a far more majestic entrance according to the mock-ups of the designs 

President Donald Trump originally pitched the construction of a White House ballroom when he saw that first lady Michelle Obama was using a tent to host larger events in the White House’s South Lawn, including state dinners. The tent was photographed in November 2009  

Trump – then a real estate developer – offered to build the Obamas a ballroom because he didn’t like the look of the tents first lady Michelle Obama was erecting on the South Lawn to host state dinners. 

‘When a dignitary comes in from India, from anywhere, they open up a tent. They have a tent. A tent!’ Trump told Limbaugh, later referring to it as a ‘lousy looking tent.’ 

The president expanded those comments when asked about the ballroom project during an executive order signing Thursday afternoon.  

Trump mentioned the tent and added ‘when it rains it’s a disaster.’ 

‘And the tent’s 100 yards, that’s more than a football field away from the main entrance and people are [schlepping] down to the tent. It’s not a pretty sight. The women with their lovely evening gowns, their hair all done and they’re a mess by the time they get in,’ Trump said. 

Leavitt had also made a tent dig.  

‘The White House is one of the most beautiful and historic buildings in the world, yet the White House is currently unable to host major functions honoring world leaders and other countries without having to install a large and unsightly tent approximately 100 yards away from the main building’s entrance,’ she said.  

‘The White House ballroom will be a much-needed and exquisite addition of approximately 90,000 total square feet of innately designed and carefully crafted space with a succeeded capacity of 650 people, which is a significant increase from the 200-person seated capacity in the East Room of the White House,’ Leavitt added. 

The White House ballroom’s designs are similar to those found at President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago and his former hotel in Washington, D.C. 

A mock-up of the design shows the current East Colonnade and how it would connect to the expanded and renovated East Wing 

Mock-ups of the design were almost immediately available on the White House’s website, with Leavitt holding up several visuals in the briefing room for reporters.  

The gilded interior design looks similar to ballroom additions Trump has constructed at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida and the Old Post Office in Washington, D.C., which for several years was the Trump International Hotel. 

‘So we’ve been planning it for a long time,’ Trump said. ‘They’ve wanted a ballroom at the White House for more than 150 years but there’s never been a president that was good at ballrooms. I’m really good.’ 

‘We’re good at building – I’m good at building things and we’ll get it built quickly and on time. It will be beautiful, top of the line,’ he added.  

During his first six months in office, Trump has also erected two large flagpoles on the White House’s North and South Lawns – and paved over the grass in the Rose Garden, a projected that is expected to be completed soon.