Members of the public voice their disapproval of Trump's ballroom plan at hearing

+ Accessibility links Skip to main content Keyboard shortcuts for audio player Open Navigation Menu --> Newsletters NPR Shop Close Navigation Menu Home News Expand/collapse submenu for News National World Politics Business Health Science Climate Race Culture Expand/collapse submenu for Culture Books Movies Television Pop Culture Food Art & Design Performing Arts Life Kit Gaming Music Expand/collapse submenu for Music The Best Music of 2025 All Songs Considered Tiny Desk Music Features Live Sessions Podcasts & Shows Expand/collapse submenu for Podcasts & Shows Daily Morning Edition Weekend Edition Saturday Weekend Edition Sunday All Things Considered Up First Here & Now NPR Politics Podcast Featured Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me! Fresh Air Wild Card with Rachel Martin It's Been a Minute Planet Money Get NPR+ More Podcasts & Shows Search Newsletters NPR Shop The Best Music of 2025 All Songs Considered Tiny Desk Music Features Live Sessions About NPR Diversity Support Careers Press Ethics Members of the public voice their disapproval of Trump's ballroom plan at hearing The panel tasked with approving President Trump's ballroom heard from citizens Thursday who are overwhelmingly opposed to the president's plan. National Members of the public voice their disapproval of Trump's ballroom plan at hearing March 6, 20264:40 AM ET Heard on Morning Edition Tamara Keith Members of the public voice their disapproval of Trump's ballroom plan at hearing Listen &middot; 2:11 2:11 Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed "> <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5737471/nx-s1-9676831" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript The panel tasked with approving President Trump's ballroom heard from citizens Thursday who are overwhelmingly opposed to the president's plan. Sponsor Message STEVE INSKEEP, HOST: A commission that will need to sign off on President Trump's White House ballroom project heard a lot of public comment yesterday. NPR senior White House correspondent Tamara Keith reports the feedback was overwhelmingly negative.

+ TAMARA KEITH, BYLINE: The National Capital Planning Commission received more than 30,000 written comments on the ballroom project, and the meeting itself stretched hours as members of the public offered testimony. Architect William Bates expressed a view shared by most who spoke. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) WILLIAM BATES: As currently proposed, the overwhelming scale and faux classical facade of the ballroom will undermine the historic architectural significance of our White House. KEITH: Bates is a board member of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which has sued to stop the project. Those offering comment ranged from experts to people who said they were just speaking as citizens, like Jamilah Way, upset about the destruction of the East Wing. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) JAMILAH WAY: Every time I see the images of the White House as it currently sits, my stomach is - it turns. KEITH: Terry Burstein came with questions he wanted answered. Like, would the commissioners take the concerns of the public seriously? (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) TERRY BURSTEIN: You are complicit in the destruction of a national historic landmark owned by the American people. With close to 100% of the American people's comments to all committees against this plan, why are you moving to approve? KEITH: His questions weren't directly answered, but earlier in the meeting, commissioners appointed by President Trump praised the project. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) PAUL SCHAEFER: This is Paul Schaefer. I just wanted to commend the team. This is fantastic work, something we - something that I believe we can be proud of. And this is going to be a lasting legacy. KEITH: Commission Chairman Will Scharf, who is also the White House staff secretary, said commissioners will vote on both preliminary and final approval for the ballroom at their meeting in early April. Tamara Keith, NPR News. (SOUNDBITE OF THE FIELD TAPES & REALIZER'S "LATE") Copyright &copy; 2026 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record. Facebook Flipboard Email Read & Listen Home News Culture Music Podcasts & Shows Connect Newsletters Facebook Instagram Press Public Editor Corrections Transcripts Contact & Help About NPR Overview Diversity NPR Network Accessibility Ethics Finances Get Involved Support Public Radio Sponsor NPR NPR Careers NPR Shop NPR Extra Terms of Use Privacy Your Privacy Choices Text Only Sponsor Message Sponsor MessageBecome an NPR sponsor (function () { var loadPageJs = function () { (window.webpackJsonp=window.webpackJsonp||[]).push([[22],{1167:function(e,n,c){e.exports=c(323)},323:function(e,n,c){"use strict";c.p=NPR.serverVars.webpackPublicPath,Promise.all([c.e(1),c.e(2),c.e(3),c.e(4),c.e(84)]).then(function(e){c(3),c(1140),c(116),c(94),c(52),c(493),c(239),c(102),c(104),c(1141),c(143),c(1142),c(238),c(48),c(1143)}.bind(null,c)).catch(c.oe)}},[[1167,0]]]); }; if (document.readyState === 'complete') { loadPageJs(); } else { window.addEventListener('load', function load() { window.removeEventListener('load', load, false); loadPageJs(); }); } })();