Posted on 12/04/2025 7:44:24 PM PST by MinorityRepublican
Donald Trump has replaced the chief architect in charge of designing his grandiose $300 million White House ballroom.
The president replaced James McCrery II and his architecture firm back in late October, according to the Washington Post.
Behind the scenes, Trump and McCrery battled over the commander-in-chief’s desire to keep increasing the size of the new building.
One source said Trump decided to replace the esteemed designer after McCrery’s firm repeatedly missed deadlines and its small workforce made progress difficult.
Trump's ballroom, paid for by big tech donors including Amazon and Google, is described as 90,000 square feet in official announcements - significantly larger than the 55,000 square feet mansion residence section of the White House complex.
It is unclear if McCrery stepped back voluntarily, but the president and him remain on good terms, a source told the outlet.
Trump's ballroom project is now being led by architect Shalom Baranes, a veteran designer for government buildings in Washington for decades.
Baranes's firm has been involved in redesigning the main Treasury building and the headquarters of the General Services Administration.
The White House says McCrery still remains involved in the project on a 'consulting' basis.
'McCrery still remains as a valuable consultant on the ballroom project,' A White House official told the Daily Mail.
'This is not a replacement but rather a passing of the baton as the project develops into new phases.'
McCrery's firm has been involved in notable projects focusing on large-scale cathedrals across the country.
In 2018, his firm finished construction on the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus in Knoxville, Tennessee.
The worshipping center's size is over 28,000 square feet with a dome that rises 14 stories above the ground.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Oops. Used six times a year if it’s NOT subdivided into office space by the next democrat administration.
This seems odd. Why wouldn’t several proposed alternative architectural plans have been submitted for review?
Maybe I’m missing something and this was already done.
I realize that the president is doing this with donor money, but it seems odd that the process wouldn’t follow normal contracting law.
Ha!! I told that to a worker at McDonald's today because as usual, they didn't get our order right, and some other bitch behind the counter yelled back: "The customer is not always right." I said back to her: "This customer is right..I'm missing part of my order." That shut her up.
A little background...My son had placed our order via their mobile app. I used the drive-thru, got my receipt from the first window, and pulled down to the next window to get our food. The girl there handed me a Happy Meal and grape juice drink. I told her it wasn't my order. (They regularly try to give you someone else's order). She insisted the Happy Meal was my order. I told her again it wasn't, and gave it back to her with my order receipt. She took my receipt and told me to move my car over to the parking area. I sat there for several minutes. Finally a young girl came out with our food. I asked her to stay while I checked the order...and she walked away. I was missing a Double Cheeseburger, so I got out of my car, in icy conditions, (I'm a 78 year old woman), and went into the restaurant. I set the bag on the counter and told one of the clerks my order wasn't right. That's when the black manager came over to speak to me, and when the mouthy blond behind the counter opened her yap. I told the manager what had happened. She tried to use the excuse that they were busy. I told her to please not use that as an excuse, because incompetence has nothing to do with being busy.
I finally got the missing burger, but when I got home, I discovered the Quarter Pounder w/Cheese I'd ordered with extra onions and pickles, also had lettuce, tomato, and mayo on the burger, which I didn't order. I went to McDonald's customer service site and sent a nastygram to them...not that it will do anything. I've had to write to them in the past about this same restaurant, and never received any satisfaction or reply. I rarely go to McDonald's as it is, and I hate going to that one because of all the wrong orders, but it's the closest one to my apartment, and it never fails, that the one time I do go, they can never get my order right.
So Trump can have the plans rejected by the Democratic Party?
I think he sould build a football stadium type structure covering the whole of the White House grounds. And put lots of gargoyles on it. In gold leaf. Eating cherubs.
The fact that Democrats are angry over a White House expansion paid for entirely by private money is a joke. A bunch of people who are no fans of Trump admit that having a formal ballroom is a good idea, so the only reason others are complaining is because it is Trump doing it.
It went something like this:
“Well, you need to submit a plan, then it needs to be reviewed and then you can apply for a permit.”
“Okay, so who do I send it to for review and permits?”
“Well, the review would need to be done by an Architect to make sure the idea would work, and if it does they give it back to you to get the permit.”
“Okay - so they who do I give it to to get the permit?”
“Umm. Nobody - you as the president need to sign the permit so construction can begin.”
“I sign the permit!? We'll have this finished in time for our 250th Independence day celebration next year. That will be great!”
Beck said that Trump sounded serious. I find it hard to believe it could be completed by then, but...
“Never order at the drive-thru! They rip you off at the drive-thru!”
Nah, they'll just tear it down.
Or if they leave it up, it'll become a giant disco hall. LGBTQ+ folks love disco.
Only half kidding.
I’m also concerned about the ballroom looking out of scale. I support the project, but was wondering if it couldn’t be partially sunk below grade level, similar to what has been done with some baseball stadiums. It wouldn’t reduce the footprint, of course, but would lower the visual profile. That said, I don’t know if such a structure could be made waterproof enough to prevent at least some water intrusion.
My son ordered and paid for the order using their app. He wanted to use some of his rewards. The problem arose when I went through the drive-thru to pick the food up. This McDonald's can't ever get your orders right, whether you order from their app, at the drive-thru, or go inside to order, and wait for it to be done. They've screwed up our orders using all three methods.
I think the building is too big. It should be not as high as the White House. It dominates.
Maybe stop going there?
DONALD: Look at these great prices!
MELANIA: Donald! You have to wait until Black Friday!
The Donald would listen to Melania, or as far as she knew it, he had listened to her.
Hahahahahaha! The key to married bliss!
It’s a Trump dig ballroom is something the democrats don’t have.
In my career in the federal government, I never once saw politicians of either party review contract proposals. Proposed plans for a ballroom are a form of contract proposal.
What happens is that the person who wants the work done submits a call for proposals, which is in the public record. The desired work is described, and anyone is free to submit a proposal. The person who submitted the call for proposals then reviews the proposals for various criteria, such as do they encompass the scope of the work described? Do they have a reasonable budget and timeline? Is the company submitting the proposal able to do the work? Etc.
In this case, it would be Trump or (more likely) his inner circle of advisors who would review the proposals and show the top ones to Trump for his final decision. The Democrat party has no control over this process.
When I got my STEM PhD, I never thought that I would have to become an expert in contract law. But here we are.
You never know. The Pentagon was built in six months. So maybe the big beautiful ballroom will be ready in time for next year's festivities.
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