Trump Building ‘Massive’ Military Complex Beneath Ballroom: What To Know
Published
Mar 30, 2026 at 02:40 AM ED
President Donald Trump has revealed that the U.S. military is building a “massive” complex under the planned White House ballroom, which required the demolition of the East Wing last year.
“The military is building a massive complex under the ballroom, and that’s under construction, and we're doing very well, so we're ahead of schedule,” the president told reporters on Air Force One as he returned to Washington D.C, on Sunday evening after spending a weekend at his Florida residence, Mar-a-Lago.
The military complex is “part of” the ballroom, adding: “the ballroom essentially becomes a shed for what's being built under.”
Without elaborating on the details of the complex, Trump said information about the plan had seeped out recently because of what he described as "a stupid lawsuit" around the construction of the contested ballroom.
Why It Matters
Trump’s plan to build a 90,000-square-foot ballroom in the White House—what his administration called “a much-needed and exquisite addition” to the historic building—has drawn criticism and faced legal challenges in court.
Critics were outraged when the East Wing was destroyed last year as construction for the ballroom began, saying the president did not have the right to make such drastic changes to the “People’s House.” Democrats accused Trump of circumventing traditional processes of seeking permission from the National Capital Planning Commission, Commission of Fine Arts and congressional approval.
video 0:39
https://www.newsweek.com/trump-building-massive-military-complex-beneath-white-house-ballroom-what-to-know-11754692