How Presidents Have Changed The White House — And How Trump's Ballroom Is Different - Beritaja

The gutted interior of the White House successful 1950, during awesome structural renovations that forced President Truman and his family to unrecorded successful a impermanent residence for about 4 years. File/AP

File/AP

Crews are demolishing the East Wing of the White House to make measurement for the building of President Trump's $300 million, 90,000 square-foot ballroom, contempt outcry from humanities preservation groups and a deficiency of national approval.

The Trump management dismissed wide disapproval arsenic "manufactured outrage" successful a truth sheet released Tuesday, which outlines the various renovations that presidents person made to the spot complete the past period and suggests this 1 is nary different.

"Unhinged leftists and their Fake News friends are clutching their pearls complete President Donald J. Trump's visionary summation of a grand, privately funded ballroom to the White House — a bold, basal summation that echoes the storied history of improvements and additions from commanders-in-chief to support the executive residence arsenic a beacon of American excellence," the White House said.

The White House has undergone renovations some ample and mini since its creation successful 1792. But this would beryllium the biggest summation — successful scope and size — since the 1940s, Priya Jain, the chair of the Society of Architectural Historians' Heritage Conservation Committee, told BERITAJA.

"In the database that was issued yesterday, if you look astatine it closely, each the changes aft 1942 person been constricted to the interior," Jain said. "And the ones connected the exterior either progressive elemental restoration aliases insignificant tract additions for illustration the tennis tribunal and the pavilion, which are constricted by their scope, size and visibility to person immoderate antagonistic effect connected the historical building."

Here's a look astatine really presidents person changed the White House.

The only known sketch of the original White House earlier it was burned by British troops successful the War of 1812. File/AP

File/AP

1700s and 1800s: The White House is built and rebuilt

The cornerstone for the White House was laid successful the recently designated nation's superior successful October 1792, a twelvemonth aft President George Washington selected the tract himself.

The neoclassical building was designed by Irish-born designer James Hoban and constructed by a squad of enslaved and freed Black Americans and European immigrants complete the people of 8 years.

President John Adams and his wife, Abigail, were the first to inhabit the residence, which was still unfinished by the clip they moved successful toward the extremity of his word successful November 1800. President Thomas Jefferson moved successful the pursuing twelvemonth and went connected to decorate the "president's house" pinch furnishings he had inherited from each of his statesmanlike predecessors.

But almost each of it was mislaid successful 1814, erstwhile British troops set occurrence to the building during the War of 1812. President James Madison and first woman Dolley Madison some fled Washington, D.C., to safety, the second managing to bring a full-size image of erstwhile President George Washington pinch her. Both returned to a impermanent residence to decorativeness retired his presidency.

Hoban oversaw the rebuilding of the White House. Its 2nd incarnation, which intimately resembled the first, officially reopened pinch President James Monroe's presence successful 1817.

This etching shows the southbound beforehand broadside of the White House successful 1825, a twelvemonth aft the completion of the curved South Portico. File/AP

File/AP

Monroe later tasked Hoban pinch the building's first awesome addition, the South Portico — the iconic rounded entranceway lined pinch Ionic columns — was completed successful 1824. Construction of the North Portico was completed successful 1830, nether President Andrew Jackson.

Early 20th century: The creation and description of the West Wing

The adjacent large changes happened nether President Theodore Roosevelt.

In 1901, he renamed it the "White House" successful each general communications, making its longtime nickname official. (It was primitively called the "president's house" aliases "executive mansion", but about group started referring to it by its limestone white-wash coloring successful the early 1800s.)

In 1902, Roosevelt began a awesome renewal of the beingness building that "transformed it from a crazy quilt of alterations complete clip into a cohesive connection of modern times," the precocious writer and historiographer William Seale wrote.

An aerial position of the White House successful August 1934. File/AP

File/AP

The biggest alteration was the relocation of his agency from the 2nd level to the West Wing, primitively called the Executive Office Building. The separate, one-story building was accessible by walkway and housed the offices of statesmanlike unit and secretaries arsenic good arsenic a Cabinet gathering room.

The task expanded the first family's surviving quarters (necessary, since the Roosevelts had six young kids) and modernized the building's heating and plumbing systems. It besides created the East Terrace — a caller entryway for guests that would later go the East Wing.

Subsequent presidents continued to build connected Roosevelt's renovations.

President William Taft remodeled and expanded the West Wing successful 1909 to create the Oval Office. President Calvin Coolidge had the tile rebuilt and a 3rd level added successful 1927, aft an engineering study showed that the tile trusses were weakened and unsafe.

The West Wing was remodeled aft a 1929 occurrence and further expanded successful 1934, erstwhile President Franklin Delano Roosevelt relocated the Oval Office to its existent location for much privacy, built much offices underground and installed an indoor swimming pool for his polio therapy (financed by backstage donations).

The indoor White House swimming pool, pictured in1965. File/AP

File/AP

Mid-20th century: Controversial additions and a awesome renovation

FDR besides had the East Wing created successful 1942, chiefly to screen up an underground bunker and to location much unit and offices during the war.

According to the White House Historical Association, the wartime building of the East Wing was highly controversial. Republicans criticized it arsenic wasteful and accused Roosevelt of "using the task to bolster his presidency's image."

"The secretive quality of the construction, tied to subject purposes, further fueled suspicions," wrote relation president Stewart McLaurin. "However, the East Wing's inferior successful supporting the modern presidency yet quieted critics."

The adjacent awesome renovation, and possibly the biggest one, happened nether President Harry Truman successful the precocious 1940s.

In consequence to structural deficiencies, his architects decided to gut the full interior, leaving only the exterior walls intact, betwixt 1948 and 1952. The task costs the balanced of $60 cardinal — funded and authorized by Congress — and drew aggravated scrutiny from preservationists and the public.

As President Harry Truman and General Dwight Eisenhower shake hands subject officials astatine the White House successful June 1952, First Lady Bess Truman and First Daughter Margaret Truman bent complete the railing connected the precocious balcony. Charles Gorry/AP

Charles Gorry/AP

One of the about arguable changes was the summation of a pavilion to the 2nd level of the South Portico. While opposed by immoderate architectural purists and Truman's opponents successful Congress for some artistic and financial reasons, the Truman Balcony has go a hallmark of some first family leisure and charismatic White House events (think: Easter Egg roll).

"The Truman Balcony was thing that was really arguable astatine the time, and now it's 1 of the about beloved parts of the White House for the president and their family to beryllium sitting extracurricular looking retired connected the South Lawn," Kate Andersen Brower, writer of The Residence: Inside the Private World of the White House, told BERITAJA's Here & Now.

Truman funded the balcony himself, utilizing money from his allocated family account. Brower said Trump's ballroom is the biggest renewal since past — but is different successful cardinal ways.

"[Truman] wasn't going to return nary for an answer, but he did spell done the channels to get support for this renovation. And we're not seeing President Trump do the aforesaid thing," she added.

Late 20th period onward: Presidents personalize the grounds 

Recent decades person seen predominant but comparatively insignificant changes to White House grounds.

President John F. Kennedy created the modern Rose Garden successful 1963 — and it remained comparatively unchanged until this August, erstwhile Trump had it paved over and turned into a patio.

In the 1970s, President Richard Nixon converted the indoor swimming pool into the White House Press Room and installed a one-lane bowling alley, while President Gerald Ford had a swimming excavation (also privately funded) built outdoors.

President Jimmy Carter, center, inspects the caller White House star basking h2o heating strategy located connected the tile of the West Wing successful June 1976. Harvey Georges/AP

Harvey Georges/AP

In the early 2000s, President George W. Bush modernized the property briefing room and the Situation Room and installed the first-ever solar electrical system connected White House grounds (President Jimmy Carter first installed star heating panels connected the White House tile successful 1979, but they were removed successful the 1980s).

President Barack Obama adapted a tennis court truthful it could besides beryllium utilized for basketball, and First Lady Michelle Obama planted the White House Kitchen Garden connected the South Lawn.

Trump has changed the grounds already

President Donald Trump speaks during an October 2025 luncheon pinch Republican senators successful the White House Rose Garden, which he paved into a patio earlier this year. Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP

Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP

Trump himself has made a slew of renovations since his 2nd word began successful January, and not conscionable to the Rose Garden.

He's besides bedecked the Oval Office pinch gilded frames and aureate details, and added a Presidential Walk of Fame to the walkway betwixt the West Wing and executive residence. It features portraits of each erstwhile president isolated from for President Joe Biden. Instead of a headshot, Biden's framework features a image of an autopen, which Trump has many times accused him of utilizing (despite the truth that the believe is not prohibited).

The White House says Trump is carrying connected a "proud statesmanlike legacy" of making upgrades to the building, successful this lawsuit expanding its capacity to big awesome functions. The East Room presently seats about 200 group for dinner, meaning galore ample White House events are hosted extracurricular successful fancy tents pinch floors and chandeliers.

Brower, the author, says location is simply a lawsuit to beryllium made for expanding the entertaining abstraction astatine the White House, pinch caveats: "I don't deliberation that it has to beryllium of this size and scope, 2 shot fields large and larger than the White House itself."