Trump appointees ask about White House ballroom's design and scale — and want to see models

Some of Donald Trump's handpicked appointees who have a say in his White House ballroom project asked questions Thursday about its ''immense'' design and scale, even as they broadly endorsed the president's vision for a massive expansion.

The Commission of Fine Arts discussion, which also included a brief review of mostly negative public comments on Trump's plans, revealed no immediate threat to Trump's overall idea, which historic preservationists are separately asking a federal court to slow down. But it demonstrated the sensitivity and political controversy involved since the president approved the demolition of the East Wing after unveiling designs that would more than double the square footage of the White House as it was before.

''This is an important thing to the president. It's an important thing to the nation,'' said the new Fine Arts chairman, Rodney Mims Cook Jr., in the panel's first public hearing on Trump's proposal.

''You can't have the United States of America entertaining people in tents,'' Cook said, noting that administrations long before Trump complained about having to host State Dinners and major events in temporary structures. The question, the chairman added, is ''if we can do this in a way that this building remains'' true to its fundamental character and still ''take care of what the president wants us to do.''

3D scale models requested by Fine Arts commissioners

After lead architect Shalom Baranes presented renderings during Thursday's online meeting, commissioners asked him to return to a future, in-person session with 3D scale models of the White House complex with the proposed addition. Baranes said an in-person presentation, per the commissioners' request, also would include scale models of the U.S. Treasury Department building to the east of the presidential mansion and the Eisenhower Executive Office Building to the west.

Baranes and commissioners alike came into the meeting aware of concerns about the project's scale and whether it can be incorporated well enough into the White House, even as Trump remains undeterred.

The total addition would be almost 90,000 square feet, Baranes confirmed, with 22,000 of that the ballroom itself. The White House was about 55,000 square feet before the East Wing, first built in 1902 and expanded in the 1940s, was demolished.

Thomas Luebke, the commission's executive director, told the group that public comments received online ahead of the meeting were ''almost all'' negative ''in some way,'' criticizing the process, the design or both.

Luebke read one comment that he described as ''more positive'' because it complimented the design and style shown in renderings. Yet even that commenter, Luebke said, wrote that ''the scale appears oversized, making the main structure dominated.'' Nodding to the criticism, Baranes emphasized that current plans call for the addition's north boundary to be set back from the existing North Portico — essentially the front porch — and for the top of the new structure to be even with the primary facade of the White House and its residence.

The view of the White House

Baranes, whose firm has worked on other federal buildings, said this is to ensure the view of the White House from Pennsylvania Avenue would not change fundamentally. A new east side colonnade connecting the main structure to the ballroom addition also would be two stories, rather than the single story that was demolished. This would add to the continuity of the new design, Baranes said.

Some commissioners said they appreciated Baranes' effort to address scale and symmetry on the north side of the White House, which fronts Pennsylvania Avenue. But they noted that still doesn't address how much the design might change the view from the South Lawn. Renderings show a 10-column, multistory porch on the south side of the addition that looks more like the Treasury Department edifice than any part of the White House.

''It's immense,'' Cook said to Baranes. ''If the president just wants cover, do you think you might be able to tone down that element?''

The architect answered: ''We looked at ways of covering it at different scales with different numbers of columns, and there's a president's desire to proceed with this one.''

The meeting Thursday was part of a series of meetings and public hearings with the Fine Arts panel and the National Capital Planning Commission, both of which have roles in assessing and approving federal construction projects in Washington.

A judge could suspend the project

Leon, who was nominated to the bench by Republican President George W. Bush, said he hopes to issue a decision sometime next month on the group's request for a preliminary injunction. But he acknowledged that his decision likely will be appealed no matter how he rules.

Plaintiff's attorney Thad Heuer said the president — a temporary occupant of the White House — needed and didn't have congressional approval before embarking on a project of this magnitude and cost.

''He isn't the landlord,'' Heuer said. ''He is a steward.''

Government lawyer Jacob Roth argued that the president has the statutory authority and broad discretion to modify the White House. Stopping in the middle of the project would create problems, including security concerns for the president, Roth said.

''I don't think there's any question that this modernization is in the public's interest,'' he told the judge.

Associated Press writer Michael Kunzelman contributed to this report.

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