Overview
- White House staff secretary Will Scharf told a federal planning meeting that the King will more likely than not be hosted in a South Lawn tent with portable toilets.
- The East Wing has been torn down for a reported $400 million project centered on a new ballroom of about 22,000 square feet designed for roughly 1,000 seated guests.
- Architect Shalom Baranes said the redesigned East Wing would total slightly more than 89,000 square feet with a two‑story colonnade linking the East Room to the ballroom.
- Baranes also said the administration is considering a one‑story addition along the West Wing colonnade to restore symmetry to the complex.
- Opponents warn the expansion could overwhelm the mansion and remove key spaces, but a federal judge signaled he is not inclined to halt work, and the administration says the president and private donors will fund it.