Trump appointees are questioning the design and size of the White House ballroom, asking to see 3D models

Some of Donald Trump’s appointees who have a say in the White House ballroom project raised questions Thursday about its “massive” design and size, even as they broadly supported the president’s vision for the massive expansion.

He watches: The Trump administration submits the ballroom plan for review months after construction begins

The Fine Arts Commission discussion, which also included a brief review of mostly negative public comments about Trump’s plans, revealed no immediate threat to Trump’s overarching idea, which historic preservationists are separately asking a federal court to slow down. But it showed the sensitivity and political debate that has taken place since the president agreed to demolish the East Wing after unveiling designs that would more than double the size of the White House as it was before.

“This is something that is important to the president. This is something that is important to the nation,” the new fine arts president, Rodney Mims Cook Jr., said at the committee’s first public hearing on Trump’s proposal.

“You can’t have the United States of America entertaining people in tents,” Cook said, noting that administrations long before Trump had complained about having to host state dinners and major events in temporary structures. The question, the president added, is “whether we can do it in a way where this building stays” true to its basic character and still “cares about what the president wants us to do.”

3D miniature models requested by fine arts commissioners

After lead architect Shalom Baranes presented renderings during Thursday’s online meeting, commissioners asked him to return for a future in-person session with 3D scale models of the White House complex with the proposed addition. The in-person display, at the request of the commissioners, will also include scale models of the U.S. Treasury Department building to the east of the Presidential Mansion and the Eisenhower Executive Office Building to the west, Baranis said.

Baranis and commissioners alike came to the meeting aware of concerns about the scale of the project and whether it could be integrated well enough into the White House, even with Trump remaining undeterred.

“President Trump is working 24/7 to make America great again, including his historic facelift of the White House,” West Wing spokesman Davis Engel said.

Baranes confirmed that the total addition will be approximately 90,000 square feet, including 22,000 square feet in the ballroom itself. The White House was about 55,000 square feet before the East Wing, which was first built in 1902 and expanded in the 1940s, was demolished.

Public comments received online before the meeting were “almost all” negative “in some way,” Thomas Luebke, the committee’s executive director, told the group, criticizing the process, the design, or both.

Luebke read a review that described it as “more positive” because it complemented the design and style shown in the renders. However, this commentator wrote that “the scale seems too large, making the main structure dominant,” Luebke said. Noting the criticism, Baranis emphasized that current plans call for the addition’s northern boundary to be set back from the existing north portico — essentially the front porch — and for the top of the new structure to be parallel to the main facade of the White House and its residence.

The White House’s point of view

The goal is to ensure the view of the White House from Pennsylvania Avenue is fundamentally unchanged, said Baranis, whose company has worked on other federal buildings. The new east side columns connecting the main structure to the ballroom will also have two stories, rather than the single story that was demolished. This would increase the continuity of the new design, Paranis said.

He added that the architects considered creating a similar second story above the west wing to address concerns about symmetry. But during questioning, he said it was just a concept. He said there had been no structural analysis of the existing west wing to determine whether it could support another level.

Some commissioners said they appreciated Baranis’ efforts to address scale and symmetry on the north side of the White House, which faces Pennsylvania Avenue. But they point out that that still doesn’t address how the design will change the view from the South Lawn. Renderings show a multi-story, 10-column balcony on the south side of the addition that looks more like the Treasury Department edifice than any part of the White House.

“It’s huge,” Cook told Baranis. “If the president just wants coverage, do you think you might be able to tone down that element?”

The architect replied: “We have looked at ways to cover it in different scales and with different numbers of columns, and there is a desire on the part of the president to move forward with this matter.”

Thursday’s meeting was part of a series of meetings and public hearings with the Commission of Fine Arts and the National Capital Planning Commission, both of which have roles in evaluating and approving federal construction projects in Washington.

A judge can suspend the project

Historic preservationists are seeking a court order for the Trump administration to suspend construction of the $400 million ballroom project. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon did not rule from the bench Thursday after hearing arguments from attorneys for the government and the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Leon, who was nominated for the post by Republican President George W. Bush, said he hopes to issue a decision sometime next month on the group’s request for a preliminary injunction. But he acknowledged that his decision would likely be appealed regardless of how he ruled.

Plaintiff’s attorney Thad Hoyer said the president — who is temporarily serving in the White House — needed and did not have congressional approval before embarking on a project of this size and cost.

“He’s not the owner,” Hoyer said. “He’s an agent.”

Government lawyer Jacob Roth said the president has broad legal authority and discretion to amend the White House. Roth said stopping in the middle of the project would create problems, including security concerns for the president.

“I don’t think there’s any doubt that this update is in the best interest of the public,” he told the judge.

Associated Press writer Michael Konzelman contributed to this report.