By GARY FIELDS, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House is expected to submit plans for its new ballroom to a planning commission later this month, the Trump-appointed head of the panel said Thursday.

“Once plans are submitted, that’s really when the role of this commission, and its professional staff, will begin,” Will Scharf, the chair of the National Capital Planning Commission, said at its monthly meeting on Thursday.

The 90,000-square-foot ballroom will dwarf the main White House itself, at nearly double the size, and President Donald Trump has said it will accommodate 999 people. It will have an estimated price tag of $300 million, a cost that has increased from initial projections.

FILE – A worker walks among debris from a largely demolished part of the East Wing of the White House, Oct. 23, 2025, in Washington, before construction of a new ballroom. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Trump said on social media that the ballroom won’t cost taxpayers a dime because it is being privately funded by “many generous Patriots, Great American Companies, and, yours truly.”

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