In the latest instance of manufactured outrage, unhinged leftists and their Fake News allies are clutching their pearls over President Donald J. Trump’s visionary addition of a grand, privately funded ballroom to the White House — a bold, necessary addition that echoes the storied history of improvements and additions from commanders-in-chief to keep the executive residence as a beacon of American excellence.
FACT: For more than a century, U.S. Presidents have been renovating, expanding, and modernizing the White House to meet the needs of the present day.
- In 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt built the West Wing — replacing expansive greenhouses constructed during the Jefferson Administration and establishing the modern day executive office wing with a “classically leaning design” — along with a colonial garden and East Terrace, which eventually became the East Wing.
- In 1909, President William Howard Taft remodeled and expanded the West Wing, which included construction of the first Oval Office.
- In 1913, President Woodrow Wilson demolished the colonial garden, modernizing it with a rose garden.
- In 1927, President Calvin Coolidge oversaw the renovation of the upper floors and attic of the White House.
- In 1929, President Herbert Hoover remodeled the West Wing, including reconstruction work in the basement level and remodeling the first floor; after a fire on Christmas Eve, the West Wing was repaired and reopened in 1930.
- In 1934, President Franklin D. Roosevelt overhauled the West Wing, adding a second floor, a larger basement, and a swimming pool, and relocating the Oval Office to its current location; in 1942, President Roosevelt constructed the East Wing.
- In 1948, President Harry Truman undertook a “total reconstruction” of the White House’s interior, expanding its foundation and footprint — preserving only its exterior walls.
- In 1962, President John F. Kennedy constructed the modern Rose Garden.
- In 1970, President Nixon converted the swimming pool into the press briefing room; in 1973, he added a bowling alley in the basement.
- In 1975, President Gerald Ford installed an outdoor swimming pool on the South Grounds, financed entirely by private donations.
- In 1993, President Bill Clinton undertook a restoration and refurbishment of the Executive Mansion.
- In 2009, President Barack Obama resurfaced the south-grounds tennis court into a basketball court and added the White House Kitchen Garden on the South Lawn.
- In 2020, President Trump and the First Lady completed a new White House tennis pavilion, refurbishing the White House Tennis Court and Grandchildren’s Garden, as well as constructing a new building.
Now, in 2025, President Trump is carrying forward that legacy, breaking ground on a grand ballroom — a transformative addition that will significantly increase the White House’s capacity to host major functions honoring world leaders, foreign nations, and other dignitaries.
White House construction projects through the years:
