President Trump said Tuesday that first lady Melania Trump is not pleased with the construction noise coming from the new White House ballroom project being built where the East Wing once stood.
Speaking with reporters, Trump said Melania often hears the loud equipment throughout the day and into the night. According to him, she sometimes asks, “Darling, could you turn off the pile drivers?” He said he usually replies, “Sorry, darling, that’s progress.”
The large renovation has stirred debate among lawmakers and the public, with some questioning whether such an extensive overhaul belongs on White House grounds. Trump has defended the project by pointing out that private donors are covering the costs and by highlighting the expanded event space the new ballroom will provide.
In a recent Fox News appearance on “The Ingraham Angle,” Trump said he has built many ballrooms over the years and considers it one of his strengths. He said that experience made him confident about moving forward with the project.
The new structure is expected to cover roughly 90,000 square feet.
Trump has described the former East Wing as a small, outdated addition that had been renovated many times and no longer matched the historic character of the main building. He said he could have designed the ballroom around it, but doing so would have compromised the final result. Instead, he said, the goal is to create “one of the greatest ballrooms in the world.”