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USA Today
02-08-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Trump White House ballroom: A look back at Grand Ballroom Trump built at Mar-a-Lago
Twenty years after the opening of the Grand Ballroom at President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Trump announced another new ballroom on a grand scale — this time at the White House. The Trump Administration on July 31 said construction on a $200 million, roughly 90,000-square-foot White House State Ballroom will begin in September. The project will be paid for by donors including Trump and have a seating capacity of 650 people, the White House said. The U.S. Secret Service will oversee security features of the new structure, officials said. "President Trump is a builder at heart and has an extraordinary eye for detail," Chief of Staff Susie Wiles said in a White House news release. "The President and the Trump White House are fully committed to working with the appropriate organizations to preserving the special history of the White House while building a beautiful ballroom that can be enjoyed by future Administrations and generations of Americans to come." The style and architecture of the exterior of the new ballroom will be "almost identical" to the rest of the White House, Trump officials said. The work will include major renovations to the White House's East Wing, where presidents have historically held large receptions. Trump has frequently complained the White House lacks a proper large-scale ballroom for entertaining. While the outside of the new ballroom at what is known as the people's house will feature the same iconic styling as the rest of the property, renderings released by the White House show that the interior style is undoubtedly reminiscent of the Versailles-inspired Donald J. Trump Grand Ballroom that was completed at Mar-a-Lago in late 2004 and had its grand opening in 2005. Here's what to know about Mar-a-Lago's large ballroom and its history. When was Mar-a-Lago completed, and what are some of its features? Construction on Mar-a-Lago began in 1922. The house was designed for cereal heiress Marjorie Meriweather Post in the Spanish-Moorish style by architect Joseph Urban, who also designed the nearby Bath & Tennis Club and the Paramount Theatre farther north in Palm Beach. When completed in 1927 on its 17-acres, the crescent-shaped main house had 115 rooms, with 58 bedrooms and 25 bathrooms. Urban drew on classical designs, looking to the Thousand Winged Ceiling at the Accademia in Venice as inspiration for the 34-foot ceiling in Mar-a-Lago's living room, and the Palazzo Chigi in Rome as inspiration for the hand-painted ceiling in the dining room, according to a 2002 Daily News report about Mar-a-Lago's history. After a major redecoration in 1956, Post added Mar-a-Lago's White and Gold Ballroom as a venue to host to her popular charity events and the square dances for which she was so well-known, according to the 2002 profile. She also added three bomb shelters during the Korean War. What has Trump added to Mar-a-Lago? Trump paid a reported $10 million for Mar-a-Lago in 1985: $5 million for the property itself, an additional $3 million for the furnishings, plus $2 million for the beachfront stretch that years prior was sold to a neighbor. When Mar-a-Lago's club opened in 1995, it had amenities such as a spa, tennis courts and nine-hole golf course. In 2000, construction began on the $3 million beachfront project at Mar-a-Lago that added a new swimming pool, a pair of two-story buildings with cabanas and a snack bar, a spa, fountains, and ramps and stairs down to the beach, the Daily News reported in 2002. In 2004, Trump received approval from Palm Beach to tear down an aging slat house on Mar-a-Lago's property to build a kitchen to help serve the estate's new ballroom, which opened in 2005. Over the years, some of Trump's plans for Mar-a-Lago have been shot down by state and town officials, including a proposal for a 120-slip marina and, before opening the club, a concept that would have subdivided Mar-a-Lago's acreage to build estate homes. What about Mar-a-Lago's Grand Ballroom? The Daily News first reported in 1996 that the National Trust for Historic Preservation was reviewing plans for a new ballroom or expansion of the dance pavilion at Mar-a-Lago. Because Mar-a-Lago is a national landmark, all major changes must be reviewed and approved by the trust. "We're just looking art different concepts, different ideas. It's very preliminary," Trump told the Daily News in 1996. "We need a ballroom because of the success of Mar-a-Lago. It has been so successful that the crowds are potentially hazardous to the facility, and the ballroom could remedy this problem." Mar-a-Lago's team "did a lot of shuttle diplomacy with the National Trust for Historic Preservation," said Wes Blackman, who was Mar-a-Lago's project manager for the ballroom. The trust has easements at Mar-a-Lago, including two to protect the views to the east and west, and one to protect the tree line along the south property line, he said. After Mar-a-Lago opened as a club in 1995, the events coordinator at the time brought Blackman and Trump to the ballroom built by Post and said it would not be able to meet the demand for large events . "There isn't room to put them that is weatherproof," Blackman recalled the coordinator saying. When the ballroom was officially pitched to the town in 1999, it was set to replace a large white tent that Mar-a-Lago had temporarily erected to host large events on the property, Blackman said. Because the structures could not be permanent, air conditioner compressors for events in the tent were placed on trailers, and temporary bathrooms were brought in, he said. The ballroom was "a very large building," he said, with records showing that it was 17,000 square feet, larger than the 11,000-square-foot ballroom built by Post. West Palm Beach-based architect Rick Gonzalez of REG Architects was the lead designer on the project. Blackman said he and Gonzalez took a lot of trips to Washington, D.C., and the trust visited the property as well, as they worked to finalize a design the trust would approve. Together with Gonzalez, Blackman said Mar-a-Lago's team "chased that building all over the property" with the trust until the location was settled. "It's in a hollow, a low spot, and it's behind the wall, and you really have a hard time even knowing the building is there when you pass the property," Blackman said. Before finalizing the architectural plans, Trump sent Gonzalez and Blackman to New York to meet with famed architect Philip Johnson, whose Glass House in Connecticut remains an iconic example of the International Style of design. Johnson, who died in January of 2005, declined to take on the task of designing the new ballroom, which was essentially "locked into the Mediterranean revival framework" because of the rest of the property, Blackman said. "He wasn't into that," Blackman said. "He was in his 'monster phase,' which were a lot of oblique angles, and he wasn't into having to fit into a mold like that." Trump also asked Blackman to consult with another friend: crooner Paul Anka, whom Trump hoped would weigh in on the new ballroom's acoustics. "I did call him," Blackman said. "It was a unique experience." He added that because Trump had already made the decision to have marble floors in the ballroom: "There's nothing you can do with that. It's gonna be a reflective surface," Blackman said of Anka's advice. Trump was adamant that the new ballroom needed to be larger than the 15,000-square-foot Ponce de Leon Ballroom at The Breakers Palm Beach resort, Blackman said. While that was part of the inspiration, he said that Trump also wanted to bring the annual International Red Cross Ball to Mar-a-Lago. Trump was successful, and one of the highlights of Palm Beach's social season soon moved to Mar-a-Lago's Grand Ballroom. "We always thought that it helped getting the National Trust to approve something first, and then that kind of gave us the 'Good Housekeeping' certificate that we could cash in with the Landmarks Commission," Blackman said of the town's approval process. While the project to build the new ballroom received approval from Palm Beach's council in October of 1999, the timeline was pushed back several times because of construction of a new Royal Park Bridge, the Daily News reported in September 2002. The project received final approval from Palm Beach's landmarks board in April of 2002, and construction began the next year, with the building permit issued in August of 2003, Blackman said. While his 10-year tenure with Mar-a-Lago ended soon after receiving the permit, Blackman returned to work on other projects at Mar-a-Lago, including the ballroom's kitchen and the massive flag pole that led to a legal battle between Trump and Palm Beach. What does the Grand Ballroom look like? The exterior of the ballroom building, which is on the property's south side between the main house and Southern Boulevard, was designed by Gonzalez to mimic the Spanish-Moorish style of the rest of the estate, the Daily News reported at the time. But the ballroom's interior was designed with France in mind. The decor drew on Versailles, with shining marble floors, intricate gold leaf designs, crystal chandeliers and soaring 40-foot coffered ceilings. The Daily News reported at the time that the gold leaf alone carried a $7 million price tag, and the overall project cost stood at $35 million. "I modeled the interior after Versailles, and there is nothing like it in the United States," Trump said of the ballroom in a 2005 interview with Florida Design magazine. When it opened, guests were reportedly awestruck by the 17 Stras chandeliers, each with a cost of $250,000 and imported from Czechoslovakia. The first major event in the new ballroom was Mar-a-Lago's annual New Year's Eve Gala to ring in 2005, according to news reports. From a Dec. 31, 2004, Daily News report: "A 1,200-square-foot loggia leads into the two-story foyer through a series of Palladian-style mahogany doors with wrought-iron borders. A staircase leads to a 45-foot observation tower. For New Year's Eve, there will be stages at opposite ends of the ballroom, one for the dance orchestra and one for headliner Vanessa Williams." The next event: a grand party to mark the marriage of Trump to his then-fiancée, Melania Knauss. Their marriage ceremony was Jan. 22, 2005, at the Episcopal Church of Bethesda-by-the-Sea, and celebrants then made the short drive to Mar-a-Lago for the reception. Anka, a guest at the wedding, treated guests to two songs at the reception: "Diana," and a version of the song "Lady Is a Tramp" that Anka dubbed "Donald is a Trump." USA Today contributed to this report. Kristina Webb is a reporter for Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at kwebb@ Subscribe today to support our journalism.
New York Post
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Post
Singer-songwriter Aimee Mann on ‘Lost in Space' tour, new musical
Singer-songwriter Aimee Mann is on the road again this summer with a tour of the East Coast that will take her to the Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn and out to the East End of Long Island this June. Known for her witty, personal lyrics and clear, melodic voice, she's playing the hits from her fourth studio album, released back in 2002. That means fans at her 21+ shows might be hearing these songs — which the elder millennials among us might remember from 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' — for the very first time. We caught up with Aimee to check in on the tour, her life in LA and what's inspiring her latest work. You're celebrating the 22 1/2 year anniversary of your album 'Lost In Space' with an East Coast tour (playing the Grand Ballroom at Canoe Place Inn in Hampton Bays June 12). Why this album and why now? We were a little slow off the mark. We wanted to do the 20th anniversary thing but for a variety of reasons it took longer. Obviously I like all my records, but I feel like this one has just such an interesting sound and really creates a mood. Your catalogue cuts across genres — from the hit 'Voices Carry' with the new wave band 'Til Tuesday to 'Save Me' the breakout 90s ear worm from the Oscar-nominated 'Magnolia' soundtrack. Your album 'Mental Illness' even won the 2018 Grammy Award for Best Folk Album. Are you still evolving as an artist? The first band I was in was this really unlistenable kind of art rock, punk, new wave band — one of those bands where you say to yourself, 'Let's do everything weird.' Which is super fun, but not necessarily fun for the listener. 'Til Tuesday was a reaction against that. I wanted to play music that was more melodic. I think it takes a lot of practice at songwriting to figure out what you like and what you're good at. It's a lot of experimentation and over time you realize, 'Oh, this is the kind of thing I'm really good at, or 'This is the kind of thing I like to do.' And acoustic guitar-based pop with a little folk flavor is my favorite place to park. Left to right: Robert Holmes and Aimee Mann, both of the group 'Til Tuesday perform onstage at Liberty State Park, Jersey City in 1985. Getty Images But there's also this writerly quality to your songs that I think defines you. Do you agree? I like that description. That's a fun way to think of myself. But no, I haven't really thought of it that way. I just know that words are very important, and it's fun to try to get better at writing lyrics and to be more exact in your language. You're based in LA with your husband Michael Penn. Do you have plans for your time in New York when you aren't on stage? I have really good friends in Brooklyn that I stay with when I go to New York. So it kind of feels like I have my neighborhood coffee place. But I never lived in New York; I was in Boston for 15 years. On this tour, it's hard to say. It might be in and out, but it all sort of depends. I'll let karma decide. Wherever the tour bus goes, that's where I'll go. Mann performs as part of 'The Aimee Mann And Ted Leo Christmas Show' at City Winery last November in NYC. Getty Images Are you working on new music? I'm writing songs for a new record. I'm not sure exactly what I want it to sound like yet, but I have a record called 'The Forgotten Arm,' [2005] and I've been playing a lot of songs from that so I'm kind of interested in returning to that sound. I'm also developing a musical based on those songs. That record was written about drug addiction and the musical is about two people who are together, and one is a drug addict. It's the dynamic of that relationship. I think we'll do a workshop presentation at Joe's Pub sometime this fall.
Yahoo
05-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump Wants Ballroom to Turn White House Into Mar-a-Lago
Donald Trump has vowed to build a $100 million ballroom in the White House – the first major renovation to the presidential mansion in over 70 years. Trump said he is good at building party rooms – the glitzy Donald J. Trump Grand Ballroom takes pride of place at his Mar-a-Lago Club in Florida. Countering any suggestion that a ballroom would be an indulgence while Elon Musk's DOGE team is stripping federal budgets, Trump said he would pick up the tab for the ambitious project himself. Speaking at a press conference in the East Room, he claimed he'd appealed to Joe Biden to allow him to glam up the White House but never heard anything back. 'I was going to build a beautiful, beautiful ballroom like I've done before,' he said. 'It would cost $100 million. 'I told them again and again. They didn't know what to do. They had no idea,' he added. 'We could use one at the White House. We will see if Trump will approve it,' he joked. The last major renovation work at the White House was under President Harry S. Truman between 1948 and 1952 during the 'Truman Reconstruction' when the interior of the building was ripped out and replaced. Only the exterior walls remained intact. It's not the first time Trump has suggested the idea. He also said he'd build a ballroom while on the campaign trail in 2016 and complained that he'd offered to build it himself to the Obama administration but, again, he never heard back. 'Every time the top people come over from China, they put up a tent at the White House,' he said at a rally in Iowa. 'We'll have a ballroom at the White House.'
