Trump says future inaugurations will be held in White House ballroom: 'A gift from me'
.@POTUS shows @LaraLeaTrump where the glass tunnel to the future East Wing will stand upon completion:
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) May 31, 2026
"It's a gift from me and from great patriots... it's the most secure facility ever built, and obviously with the way the world is now, that's very important." pic.twitter.com/nxVqrTWPCy
WASHINGTON, DC: President Donald Trump said future presidential inaugurations will be held inside his planned White House ballroom as his administration battles legal and political opposition to the project.
Trump made the announcement during a Fox News interview with his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, while giving her a tour of the ballroom construction site at the White House.
Trump touts ballroom plans
“It's a great facility, and we're going to have the inauguration here,” Trump told Lara Trump. “It's going to hold...I had mine in the Capitol. In the Capitol, I had 902 people, and it was still beautiful, but it was 902 people, and it's not safe like this.”
Trump said future presidents would continue using the ballroom for “200 years” even though he expects to personally use it for only a short period once construction is completed.
“I'll have it for about six months. In other words, when it's finished ... I'll only have the use of it for six months,” he said.
The interview aired hours after Trump publicly attacked a federal judge who ruled he must remove his name from the Kennedy Center and halt renovation plans tied to the broader project.
Lara Trump defended the ballroom during the interview and accused critics of overreacting to the construction effort.
“Unsurprisingly ... left-wing pundits are melting down over the ballroom project. So, what's all the fuss about?” she asked.
Trump repeatedly framed the project as a national contribution rather than a personal legacy project.
“From me, and from Apple, and from lots of great people and companies,” Trump said while describing the ballroom as a “gift to America.”
He also highlighted the reported $400 million cost of the ballroom, saying the funding had been fully raised through private donors.
Senate Republicans pull funding
The White House ballroom project is also facing fresh problems on Capitol Hill after Senate Republicans moved to remove a proposed $1 billion Secret Service funding request connected to the project from a larger immigration enforcement bill.
“We were told that the ballroom money is out,” Sen John Kennedy told reporters after a GOP lunch meeting on Wednesday, May 20.
Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough ruled that the funding language violated Senate rules because it covered matters outside the Judiciary Committee’s jurisdiction.
Several Republican senators also privately opposed tying ballroom-related security funding to an immigration package, especially as frustrations inside the GOP intensified over Trump’s endorsement of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton against Sen John Cornyn.
Draft legislation had specifically mentioned the East Wing Modernization Project and proposed using part of the Secret Service funding for “above-ground and below-ground security features” tied to the ballroom.
Trump calls ballroom greatest facility
Trump continued promoting the project, calling it the “greatest” ballroom facility and “the most secure facility ever built.”
He added that both the military and Secret Service were heavily involved in the work.
Lara Trump was also shown construction preparations for a planned UFC fight on the South Lawn tied to Trump’s upcoming 80th birthday celebration.
