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Trump’s Ballroom
By: The Editorial Board - wsj.com - October 23, 2025
Critics of White House renovations also hated Jefferson’s colonnades and Truman’s balcony.But adding a ballroom to the White House isn’t destroying it, much less democracy, and controversy over such renovations is almost as old as the republic. The nonprofit White House Historical Association has an enlightening essay on the subject, written by the group’s president, Stewart McLaurin.
Thomas Jefferson’s addition of the east and west colonnades “faced immediate criticism for their cost and perceived extravagance,” he writes. Federalists in Congress said the columned walkways had a whiff of aristocracy unbefitting the building’s democratic simplicity.
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Source: Trump’s Big, Beautiful Ballroom - WSJ
