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President Donald Trump is expected to name the new White House Ballroom after himself, according to new reporting.
ABC News reported on Friday, Oct. 24, that — while the ballroom’s name has not been formally declared — senior officials within the Trump administration are already referring to it as “The President Donald J. Trump Ballroom,” and that name is likely to be permanent.
When ABC News’ chief White House correspondent, Mary Bruce, asked the president on Thursday whether he had a name in mind for the $300 million ballroom, Trump replied with a smile and said, “I won’t get into that now.”
White House spokesman Davis Ingle suggests that ABC’s report should be taken with a grain of salt, telling PEOPLE, “Any announcement made on the name of the ballroom will come directly from President Trump himself, and not through anonymous and unnamed sources.”
“The President Donald J. Trump Ballroom” would fit with Trump’s history of naming construction projects after himself: Trump Tower in Manhattan, Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago, golf courses around the world and more.
It would also be in line with recent renovations to the White House that have been modeled after Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. For example, the president rebranded the newly paved White House Rose Garden as “The Rose Garden Club at the White House,” adding an air of exclusivity to the presidential residence commonly referred to as the “People’s House.”
A social source told PEOPLE in August that both Donald and first lady Melania Trump “would prefer to be in Palm Beach,” so instead they’re “bringing Mar-a-Lago to Washington.”
“Anytime Melania and Donald can make the White House feel more like Mar-a-Lago, they will,” the source said. “They love Mar-a-Lago. Not only is it their home, but Donald personally created much of the current decor and takes pride in living there and showing it to other people.”
In fact, the plans for the White House ballroom look almost identical to the ballroom at Mar-a-Lago, which is called “The Donald J. Trump Ballroom.”
Brooks Kraft/Getty; McCrery Architects/The White House
Trump has faced backlash on his ballroom plans, as photos and video went viral of the White House East Wing’s unexpected demolition. The Trump administration was forced to backtrack the president’s previous claim that the Roosevelt-era wing of the historic building wouldn’t be affected by the new construction.
On Wednesday, Oct. 22, The New York Times said it had confirmed the full demolition of the East Wing with a senior official who was not authorized to publicly speak about the work.
The outlet reported that the teardown is slated to be completed by this weekend, later revealing that the demolition included the adjacent Jacqueline Kennedy Garden, which was dedicated to the former first lady after President John F. Kennedy’s assassination.
PEDRO UGARTE/AFP via Getty
In a July 31 press conference, Trump said the ballroom construction “won’t interfere with the current building.”
“It’ll be near it but not touching it,” the president, 79, promised at the time. “And it pays total respect to the existing building, which I’m the biggest fan of.”
Following the obvious change in plans, Trump lashed out at a White House reporter who questioned his transparency on the construction project during an Oval Office press conference on Oct. 23.
He raised his voice as he replied to Reuters’ Jeff Mason, saying, “I haven’t been transparent? Really?”
“I’ve shown this to everybody that would listen. Third-rate reporters didn’t see it because they didn’t look. You’re a third-rate reporter, always have been,” Trump continued. “Third-rate reporters didn’t look, but anybody that asked– these pictures have been in newspapers, they’ve been all over the place, and you know, we’re very proud of it. It’s gotten great reviews.”
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White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has also slammed backlash over the demolition as “fake outrage.”
“While many presidents have dreamt about this, it is actually President Trump who is actually doing something about it. And he is the builder-in-chief. In large part, he was re-elected to this people’s house because he is good at building things,” she told Fox News earlier this week.
