U.S. President Donald Trump has confirmed that the U.S. military is building a large underground complex beneath the White House’s new ballroom. The project, which Trump said was initially intended to remain secret for national security reasons, became public through a lawsuit. Trump spoke about it on Sunday, March 29, 2026, aboard Air Force One and put the cost of the underground bunker at nearly $400 million.
Trump said the new ballroom will feature bulletproof glass as well as drone-proof roofs and ceilings. According to him, the ballroom is to cover 90,000 square feet and accommodate up to 1,000 guests, with a height matching that of the White House. He also described the underground structure as a protective shelter against drones and other threats, pointing to especially thick, high-grade bulletproof glass in the large windows.
Experts criticized the plans as oversized. Architect David Scott Parker, a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects and head of a firm focused on residential design and historic preservation, based his assessment on design renderings and materials the White House submitted to the Commission of Fine Arts the previous month. Parker cited a ballroom area of about 22,000 square feet (2,043 square meters) and said this was significantly more than would be necessary for 1,000 guests. He also criticized a south-facing porch and staircase covering 4,000 square feet (372 square meters) as unnecessary, saying it provides no direct access to the building’s interior and does not meet requirements under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The White House reportedly said the ballroom would comply with federal accessibility laws but did not directly address Parker’s specific criticisms.
Trump rejected objections to the project and stressed that it is fully financed by private donors, with no taxpayer or government money used. He called the lawsuit that brought details to light “stupid” and said during a Cabinet meeting on Thursday, March 26, 2026, that the project had been planned as secret but became public because of what he described as “unpatriotic” disclosures.
The lawsuit was filed in December 2025 by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which argues that the president bypassed congressional approval. The organization asked a federal judge to halt construction of the planned 90,000-square-foot ballroom until environmental reviews were completed and congressional approval obtained. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon expressed skepticism on March 26, 2026, about both the construction project and the claimed private funding and indicated a decision would come in the case early the following week; reports said that could stop a project start planned for April.
Trump had criticized the lawsuit previously, writing in a January post on Truth Social that the project was being carried out with the design, consent, and approval of the highest levels of the U.S. military and the Secret Service, and that the lawsuit had exposed what had been a “top secret” fact. The ballroom design materials drew more than 9,000 negative public comments, according to the report.
The public dispute with the media continued as White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt attacked The New York Times’ coverage and wrote on X that the newspaper had used “three random people” with no building experience to criticize the ballroom. Leavitt said Trump and his lead architect have built “world-class” buildings around the world and were ensuring the White House gets a ballroom long needed for decades at no expense to taxpayers. A New York Times spokesperson, Danielle Rhoades, responded that the reporting was based on interviews with architects, current and former government officials, and historic preservationists, relied on public documentation of the building plans, and quoted White House officials involved in planning the new ballroom.
Trump’s broader overhaul plans for the White House have continued since the start of his second term. Last October, reports said he ordered the demolition of the East Wing to make way for a large ballroom intended to host receptions and state dinners, and he also renamed a prominent performance venue the “Trump-Kennedy Centre” and plans a monumental arch in Washington modeled on Paris’s Arc de Triomphe.
Source: Firstpost