Will President Trump’s East Wing ballroom hold 650 people, or 999, as Mr. Trump said this week? Or maybe it will hold 1,350 people, according to a drawing Mr. Trump held up in the Oval Office this week.
The East Wing was demolished this week, but the ballroom design is still in flux, even though construction was slated to begin in September. The project is supposed to be completed before the end of Mr. Trump’s term at a cost of $300 million — $100 million more than the previous estimate.
The scope and size of the undertaking was always subject to change as work continued, according to a White House official. Here’s a look at what we know about the plans Mr. Trump has floated to remodel the torn-down East Wing:
In addition to a floor plan that suggests more seating in the ballroom than Mr. Trump had advertised, the number of west- and south-facing arched windows are different between the plans.
Similarly, there are six columns on the northeast portico in the White House website drawings, and eight columns in the renderings Mr. Trump showed this month. The portico would replace the previous entrance to the East Wing that millions of Americans have walked through for public tours of the White House.
The plans Mr. Trump has shown thus far indicate that there will be stairs from the South Lawn leading to the East Wing ballroom. But they show a difference in design: two smaller staircases or one larger one.
McCrery Architects, the firm hired for the project, did not respond to a request for comment.
Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, defended Mr. Trump’s decision to tear down the East Wing on Thursday, acknowledging that his initial plans had changed and arguing that he was not the first president to remodel the White House.
Architects and historians say that it is not unusual for designs to change during a project like this, but that Mr. Trump has not followed the typical process for White House renovations, which normally involve reviews by organizations like the National Capital Planning Commission.
And the various plans Mr. Trump has shared have suggested a hurried process. Along with the differences in the drawings, the model he displayed on Wednesday appeared to have some mistakes, like a staircase leading up from the South Lawn to no clear landing.
