Watters, 47, recounted the alleged conversation to a large crowd at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest in Phoenix on Dec. 20
Toria Sheffield
Sun, December 21, 2025
PEOPLE
NEED TO KNOW
Fox News host Jesse Watters claimed that President Donald Trump told him he is building the new White House ballroom as a “monument” to himself
He added that Trump said he was doing so because “no one else will”
Watters recounted the alleged conversation while speaking at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest in Phoenix on Dec. 20
Jesse Watters claims President Donald Trump told him he is constructing the new White House ballroom as a “monument” to himself — and that he’s doing it “because no one else will.”
The Fox News host recounted the alleged conversation while speaking at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest, a multiday conservative conference and festival in Phoenix, on Saturday, Dec. 20. A video of the moment has since been posted on X.
Watters, 47, told the large crowd that he was sharing a meal with Trump, 79, when the president asked him if he wanted to see a rendition of “the big, beautiful ballroom.”
“I said, ‘Sure, let me see it,’ “ Watters continued. “He [Trump] rolls the whole thing out. And guys, I don't know if you know this — the ballroom is huge. Like, I said, ‘Mr. President, the ballroom is four times the size of the White House.' ”
NEED TO KNOW
Fox News host Jesse Watters claimed that President Donald Trump told him he is building the new White House ballroom as a “monument” to himself
He added that Trump said he was doing so because “no one else will”
Watters recounted the alleged conversation while speaking at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest in Phoenix on Dec. 20
Jesse Watters claims President Donald Trump told him he is constructing the new White House ballroom as a “monument” to himself — and that he’s doing it “because no one else will.”
The Fox News host recounted the alleged conversation while speaking at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest, a multiday conservative conference and festival in Phoenix, on Saturday, Dec. 20. A video of the moment has since been posted on X.
Watters, 47, told the large crowd that he was sharing a meal with Trump, 79, when the president asked him if he wanted to see a rendition of “the big, beautiful ballroom.”
“I said, ‘Sure, let me see it,’ “ Watters continued. “He [Trump] rolls the whole thing out. And guys, I don't know if you know this — the ballroom is huge. Like, I said, ‘Mr. President, the ballroom is four times the size of the White House.' ”
McCrery Architects/The White HouseRendering of the interior of the proposed White House ballroom
“He said, ‘Jesse, it's a monument. I'm building a monument to myself — because no one else will,' " Watters added, eliciting loud laughs from the audience.
Trump recently said that the 90,000-square-foot ballroom, which is being built on the site of the former East Wing, will now cost $400 million — a significant jump from earlier estimates.
Trump announced the updated price tag on Dec. 17 during a Hanukkah reception at the White House, where he also revealed that a federal judge has allowed construction on the controversial project to move forward. He repeated the figure multiple times while thanking the official for clearing the way for continued construction, describing the ruling as an act of “courage.”
The ballroom — which is being funded entirely by private donors, including a contribution from Trump himself — is expected to be completed by summer 2028.
PEDRO UGARTE/AFP via GettyHeavy machinery tears down a section of the East Wing as construction begins on the White House ballroom on Oct. 20, 2025More
Trump has argued that the sprawling ballroom is needed so future presidents can host large events indoors rather than on the South Lawn.
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It's unclear just how many people the space can accommodate. Trump told NBC News in September that it would hold up to 900 people; BBC reporting cites plans for a capacity of 1,350.
On Dec. 16, U.S. District Judge Richard Leon rejected a request from the National Trust for Historic Preservation to temporarily halt construction while the project undergoes additional review, the Associated Press reported.
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However, the judge said he plans to hold a hearing in January on the group’s request for a preliminary injunction and warned the administration not to make underground construction decisions that would lock in the design of the ballroom above ground, per Bloomberg.
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Head of group suing over White House ballroom says she trusts Trump-picked chairman to do his job
DARLENE SUPERVILLE
Fri, December 19, 2025
Work continues on the construction of the ballroom at the White House where the East Wing once stood, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Work continues on the construction of the ballroom at the White House where the East Wing once stood, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
WASHINGTON (AP) — The president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation said Friday she trusts the Trump-appointed chairman of a federal planning commission to do his job and give serious review to President Donald Trump’s proposal to add a ballroom to the White House.
Carol Quillen said in an interview that she takes Will Scharf, chairman of the National Capital Planning Commission, “at his word” after he said at the panel's December meeting that the review process would be treated seriously once the White House submits the plans.
Scharf said at that meeting that he expected to receive the plans sometime this month, and the panel's review process would happen at a “normal and deliberative pace.”
Quillen said she trusted that would be the case.
“I take him at his word that the process will be conducted as it always is, deliberately and seriously, and that the commission will do its job," she said.
The White House has not responded to multiple queries about when the ballroom plans will be shared with Scharf’s panel as well as the Commission of Fine Arts. The planning commission on Friday released the agenda for its January meeting and the “East Wing Modernization Project” is listed for an “information presentation,” often the first step in its review of a project.
The National Trust last week asked a federal court to halt the ballroom construction until it is subjected to multiple independent reviews, public comment and wins approval from Congress. The government argued in court that the lawsuit was premature.
A federal judge this week denied the National Trust's request for a temporary restraining order but scheduled a January hearing on its motion for a preliminary injunction. Such a step would halt all construction until the reviews, which could take months, are completed.
Quillen said her private nonprofit organization was not asking for the Republican president's proposal to go through reviews just for the sake of doing so. She said the process inevitably leads to a better project because multiple independent parties get to comment on it.
The National Trust was chartered in part to ensure the public participates in decisions that affect the country's historic resources, she said, “and the White House is arguably the nation's most iconic building.”
She said the organization did not sue earlier because legal action is “our last resort” and because of its history of working with administrations.
In Trump's first term, the administration submitted plans to the National Capital Planning Commission for new fencing for the White House perimeter and a tennis pavilion on the south grounds.
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Benzinga134
Quillen declined to speculate about why Trump had not already done so for a White House ballroom he has long desired and has moved quickly to build since he returned to office. He complains regularly that the East Room and State Dining Room — two of the largest public spaces in the White House — are too small and has criticized the practice of hosting foreign leaders at state dinners in tents on the south grounds.
Trump has proposed building a 90,000-square-foot ballroom, big enough to accommodate 999 people, where the East Wing of the White House stood for decades until he had it torn down in October in a move that “caught us by surprise,” Quillen said.
He recently upped the construction cost estimate to $400 million, double the original $200 million price, and has said no public money will pay for it. The White House has said the ballroom will be ready before Trump's term ends in January 2029.
The National Trust asserted in its lawsuit that the ballroom plans should have been submitted to the National Capital Planning Commission, the Commission of Fine Arts and Congress before any action.
The lawsuit notes that the organization wrote to those entities and the National Park Service, which oversees the White House grounds, on Oct. 21, after the East Wing demolition began, asking for the projects to be paused and for the administration to comply with federal law. It received no response, the lawsuit said.
The government said in its written response that the ballroom plans have not been finalized despite continuing demolition and other work to prepare the site for eventual construction, which is not expected to begin until April 2026, at the earliest.
The administration also argued that Trump has authority to modify the White House and included the extensive history of changes and additions to the Executive Mansion since it was built more than 200 years ago. It also asserted that the president is not subject to statutes cited by the National Trust.
DARLENE SUPERVILLE
Fri, December 19, 2025
Work continues on the construction of the ballroom at the White House where the East Wing once stood, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Work continues on the construction of the ballroom at the White House where the East Wing once stood, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
WASHINGTON (AP) — The president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation said Friday she trusts the Trump-appointed chairman of a federal planning commission to do his job and give serious review to President Donald Trump’s proposal to add a ballroom to the White House.
Carol Quillen said in an interview that she takes Will Scharf, chairman of the National Capital Planning Commission, “at his word” after he said at the panel's December meeting that the review process would be treated seriously once the White House submits the plans.
Scharf said at that meeting that he expected to receive the plans sometime this month, and the panel's review process would happen at a “normal and deliberative pace.”
Quillen said she trusted that would be the case.
“I take him at his word that the process will be conducted as it always is, deliberately and seriously, and that the commission will do its job," she said.
The White House has not responded to multiple queries about when the ballroom plans will be shared with Scharf’s panel as well as the Commission of Fine Arts. The planning commission on Friday released the agenda for its January meeting and the “East Wing Modernization Project” is listed for an “information presentation,” often the first step in its review of a project.
The National Trust last week asked a federal court to halt the ballroom construction until it is subjected to multiple independent reviews, public comment and wins approval from Congress. The government argued in court that the lawsuit was premature.
A federal judge this week denied the National Trust's request for a temporary restraining order but scheduled a January hearing on its motion for a preliminary injunction. Such a step would halt all construction until the reviews, which could take months, are completed.
Quillen said her private nonprofit organization was not asking for the Republican president's proposal to go through reviews just for the sake of doing so. She said the process inevitably leads to a better project because multiple independent parties get to comment on it.
The National Trust was chartered in part to ensure the public participates in decisions that affect the country's historic resources, she said, “and the White House is arguably the nation's most iconic building.”
She said the organization did not sue earlier because legal action is “our last resort” and because of its history of working with administrations.
In Trump's first term, the administration submitted plans to the National Capital Planning Commission for new fencing for the White House perimeter and a tennis pavilion on the south grounds.
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Benzinga134Quillen declined to speculate about why Trump had not already done so for a White House ballroom he has long desired and has moved quickly to build since he returned to office. He complains regularly that the East Room and State Dining Room — two of the largest public spaces in the White House — are too small and has criticized the practice of hosting foreign leaders at state dinners in tents on the south grounds.
Trump has proposed building a 90,000-square-foot ballroom, big enough to accommodate 999 people, where the East Wing of the White House stood for decades until he had it torn down in October in a move that “caught us by surprise,” Quillen said.
He recently upped the construction cost estimate to $400 million, double the original $200 million price, and has said no public money will pay for it. The White House has said the ballroom will be ready before Trump's term ends in January 2029.
The National Trust asserted in its lawsuit that the ballroom plans should have been submitted to the National Capital Planning Commission, the Commission of Fine Arts and Congress before any action.
The lawsuit notes that the organization wrote to those entities and the National Park Service, which oversees the White House grounds, on Oct. 21, after the East Wing demolition began, asking for the projects to be paused and for the administration to comply with federal law. It received no response, the lawsuit said.
The government said in its written response that the ballroom plans have not been finalized despite continuing demolition and other work to prepare the site for eventual construction, which is not expected to begin until April 2026, at the earliest.
The administration also argued that Trump has authority to modify the White House and included the extensive history of changes and additions to the Executive Mansion since it was built more than 200 years ago. It also asserted that the president is not subject to statutes cited by the National Trust.
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