Trump hires new White House ballroom architect

[ificandream]

Source: Washington Post

By Jonathan Edwards and Dan Diamond

President Donald Trump has replaced the architect he handpicked to design his White House ballroom, according to three people familiar with the project, ending the involvement of a boutique firm whose selection raised questions from the start about whether it had the capacity to complete the massive, high-profile endeavor.

For more than three months, James McCrery II and his architecture firm led the effort to design Trump’s $300 million ballroom building — until late October, when he stopped working on the project, one of the people said. It is unclear whether McCrery stepped back voluntarily, but the men parted on good terms and remain so, according to one of the people familiar with the project, all of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal conversations.

Trump and McCrery had clashed over the president’s desire to keep increasing the size of the building, but it was McCrery’s firm’s small workforce and inability to hit deadlines that became the decisive factor in him leaving, one of the people said. Trump has chosen architect Shalom Baranes, who’s been designing and renovating government buildings in Washington for decades, to pick up the mantle, according to two of the people. Baranes’s firm has handled a number of large Washington projects dating back decades, including projects involving the main Treasury building near the White House and the headquarters of the General Services Administration.

“As we begin to transition into the next stage of development on the White House Ballroom, the Administration is excited to share that the highly talented Shalom Baranes has joined the team of experts to carry out President Trump’s vision on building what will be the greatest addition to the White House since the Oval Office — the White House Ballroom,” White House spokesman Davis Ingle said in a written statement. “Shalom is an accomplished architect whose work has shaped the architectural identity of our nation’s capital for decades and his experience will be a great asset to the completion of this project.”

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/12/04/trump-ballroom-architect-east-wing/

[Marie Marie]

1. So Trump keeps looking to go bigger and bigger on an already gaudy, oversized and unnecessary room(?)

Guess he wants it visible from deep space.

[electric_blue68]

6. Voyager 1 Sees Drumphf's New Ballroom! 😄😑

[ruet]

2. Here We Go. Nothing WIll Be Built There. -NT-

[angryxyouth]

3. Nobody's mentioning the fact

That Trump demolished the Eastwing before he even had finalized plans for construction. This is his modus operandi destroying things before he has a final plan in place

[Norrrm]

4. Earlier Trump claimed (lied) that the East Wing would not be affected.

[twodogsbarking]

5. Home Depot and Dollar General are in a panic.

[erronis]

7. Maybe the purpose was really to kill the Situation Room? Where Obama watched a successful operation?

Is he so petty and demented?

Yes.

[Deuxcents]

8. He's looking for a "yes" person for his ridiculous ideas

[Sedona]

9. Albert Speer?

[Hugin]

20. "Where's my Albert Speer?"

Bellowed the Ozymandias wannabe.

[Blue Owl]

10. I'd imagine for an architect, this would be the least desirable 'gig' out there

1) You're working for a psychopath
2) You probably won't get paid when you send in your invoice
3) You're trying to please someone with no taste or sense of style
4) You'll be subject to unreasonable demands
5) Anything that ends up being built will be demolished as soon as tRump is dead

The list goes on....

[twodogsbarking]

11. Oh, yeah, it was like lightning. Everybody was frightening

And the music was soothing
And they all started grooving
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

And the man at the back said, "Everyone attack"
And it turned into a ballroom blitz
And the girl in the corner said, "Boy, I wanna warn ya
It'll turn into a ballroom blitz"

[Hassin Bin Sober]

12. Somebody's not getting paid. At this point anyone who does business with him deserves it.

[Lonestarblue]

13. Eventually Trump's white elephant ballroom will be so large that he will demolish the WH to fit it in the space.

I’m sure he’s itching to do so because it is not gaudy and tacky enough to suit him.

[truthisfreedom]

14. "Transition to the next stage" translation:

We started off, not knowing what we were doing. We broke the east wing and had to throw it away. Then Trump broke the design and we had to throw away the architect. Now we’ve conned this new architect into trying to work with the crazy guy and his Liberace dream for the Epstein ballroom, dripping with gold and chandelier baubles dangling like droplets of cum delivered by giant phallic marble columns, the walls ringing with the echoes of YMCA, the greatest gay disco anthem ever created (except for In the Navy.)

[travelingthrulife]

16. Did anybody bother to get a permit yet?

[travelingthrulife]

15. Hope that crooks' career is over.

[Prairie Gates]

17. Tearing down half the White House with only concepts of a plan and a completely unqualified staff is...

I mean, never say Trump wasn't a master of metaphor.

[Icanthinkformyself]

18. The new firm's name

is Webe Dum Nidiot.

[Hugin]

19. Looks like Trump got their first bill...

Seriously, how many times can he run the same con.



P. T. Barnum really had the scoop.

[Shipwack]

21. Is there any chance...

…that this disgusting East Wing replacement will not be appreciably finished by the end of the current Republican hold of the Presidency? Then the Democratic administration can just replace it with a close replica of the old wing, albeit with modern fittings?