Right-wing radio host Eric Metaxas stood on the National Mall and told thousands of people at the Rededicate 250 prayer event that God waited two centuries to bring President Trump to power so he could build a ballroom at the White House. “Yes, it’s hard to believe that it would take two centuries for the Lord to raise up a great man to bring that ballroom finally to stand where it needs to stand,” he told the crowd. “It’s extraordinary. We only had to wait 200 years.”
Metaxas, known for his biography of Bonhoeffer and his strong support for the president, also spoke about the history of the War of 1812 and the burning of the White House. According to RawStory, the $400 million ballroom project has been deeply unpopular with the general public, and more than 2,000 public comments submitted to the National Capital Planning Commission were 99% negative.
A Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll showed the project is opposed by a 2-to-1 margin. The East Wing, which the White House had promised would not be touched, was demolished in October to make room for the structure. Despite President Trump’s earlier pledge of “no charge to the taxpayer whatsoever,” the price tag grew to $400 million by December.
The ballroom is running into serious legal and political walls that are proving very hard to break through
On May 12, U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon ordered all construction on the ballroom to stop until Congress authorizes its completion. When speaking to Fox News host Jesse Watters, President Trump reportedly said, “It’s a monument. I’m building a monument to myself, because no one else will.”
The Trump family has not been shy about pushing back against media coverage either, as seen when Eric Trump threatened to sue MSNBC over alleged lies about his business dealings. On Saturday, May 16, 2026, Republican allies in the Senate tried to include $1 billion in funding for the ballroom and related security measures inside an immigration enforcement bill.
They attempted to use a legislative tool called reconciliation to get around a filibuster, but Senate parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough blocked the move. She said the bill wrongly funded activities outside the Judiciary Committee’s jurisdiction.
“A project as complex and large in scale as Trump’s proposed ballroom necessarily involves the coordination of many government agencies which span the jurisdiction of many Senate committees,” MacDonough explained.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer responded strongly to the failed funding attempt. “Democrats will keep fighting this every way we can, in the Byrd Bath, on the Senate floor with votes, and anywhere else Republicans try to raid Americans’ hard-earned money for Trump’s gilded palace,” Schumer stated.
“Americans don’t want a ballroom. They don’t need a ballroom. And they sure as hell should not be forced to pay for one,” he added. According to The Daily Beast, the $1 billion funding request was more than double the actual construction cost, and was meant to cover things like bulletproof glass and advanced drone detection systems.
Even after the defeat, supporters are not giving up. A spokesman for Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune posted on X that night, writing, “Redraft. Refine. Resubmit. None of this is abnormal during a Byrd process.”
The ballroom is part of a wider set of changes the 79-year-old president has made to the White House, which also include paving over the Rose Garden, adding gold accents to the Oval Office, and repainting the reflecting pool “American flag blue.”
Critics like Rachel Laser, CEO of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, have called events like the one on the National Mall a “Jubilee of Christian Nationalism.” For now, construction remains at a standstill, with the courts, the Senate parliamentarian, and a skeptical public all standing in the way. The political cost of opposing Trump has also been very real for some lawmakers, with one Democrat losing his 20-year career after a single phone call from the president.
Published: May 18, 2026 04:15 pm