(White House Press Release, October 21, 2025)
In the latest instance of manufactured outrage, unhinged leftists and their Fake News allies are clutching their pearls over President Donald J. Trump’s visionary addition of a grand, privately funded ballroom to the White House — a bold, necessary addition that echoes the storied history of improvements and additions from commanders-in-chief to keep the executive residence as a beacon of American excellence.
FACT: For more than a century, U.S. Presidents have been renovating, expanding, and modernizing the White House to meet the needs of the present day.
- In 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt built the West Wing — replacing expansive greenhouses constructed during the Jefferson Administration and establishing the modern day executive office wing with a “classically leaning design” — along with a colonial garden and East Terrace, which eventually became the East Wing.
- In 1909, President William Howard Taft remodeled and expanded the West Wing, which included construction of the first Oval Office.
- In 1913, President Woodrow Wilson demolished the colonial garden, modernizing it with a rose garden.
- In 1927, President Calvin Coolidge oversaw the renovation of the upper floors and attic of the White House.
- In 1929, President Herbert Hoover remodeled the West Wing, including reconstruction work in the basement level and remodeling the first floor; after a fire on Christmas Eve, the West Wing was repaired and reopened in 1930.
- In 1934, President Franklin D. Roosevelt overhauled the West Wing, adding a second floor, a larger basement, and a swimming pool, and relocating the Oval Office to its current location; in 1942, President Roosevelt constructed the East Wing.
- In 1948, President Harry Truman undertook a “total reconstruction” of the White House’s interior, expanding its foundation and footprint — preserving only its exterior walls.
- In 1962, President John F. Kennedy constructed the modern Rose Garden.
- In 1970, President Nixon converted the swimming pool into the press briefing room; in 1973, he added a bowling alley in the basement.
- In 1975, President Gerald Ford installed an outdoor swimming pool on the South Grounds, financed entirely by private donations.
- In 1993, President Bill Clinton undertook a restoration and refurbishment of the Executive Mansion.
- In 2009, President Barack Obama resurfaced the south-grounds tennis court into a basketball court and added the White House Kitchen Garden on the South Lawn.
- In 2020, President Trump and the First Lady completed a new White House tennis pavilion, refurbishing the White House Tennis Court and Grandchildren’s Garden, as well as constructing a new building.
Now, in 2025, President Trump is carrying forward that legacy, breaking ground on a grand ballroom — a transformative addition that will significantly increase the White House’s capacity to host major functions honoring world leaders, foreign nations, and other dignitaries.
Editor’s note: To view photographs of historical White House remodeling projects, click here.
