The White House restarted public tours on Tuesday after weeks of delays due to construction on the East Wing related to President Trump’s proposed ballroom.
The tours will include an “updated route” to avoid the construction and will feature the White House Christmas decorations on the State Floor.
First lady Melania Trump unveiled the White House’s Christmas theme Monday, “Home is Where the Heart Is,” which will feature more than 50 Christmas trees, 700 feet of garland, 25,000 feet of ribbon and 10,000 butterflies.
White House tour requests are made through members of Congress, submitted seven to 90 days in advance of the requested tour date. Congressional offices were permitted to resume submitting tour requests on Nov. 3.
Mr. Trump’s plan to build a ballroom, which began demolition of the East Wing on Oct. 20, stalled tours and received a copious amount of public attention, from surprise to dismay.
“It is something that has been needed and desired at the White House for over 150 years, but something which no other President was equipped to do — But I am, and as long as we are going to do it, we are going to do it RIGHT,” Mr. Trump said on Truth Social on Sunday. “It will be a magnificent addition to the White House, the most important since the building of the West Wing!”
The post came after reports of setbacks on the 90,000-square-foot, $300 million ballroom project.
It is expected to closely resemble his ballroom at Mar-a-Lago and will boast Corinthian columns, crystal chandeliers and a black-and-white tile floor.
Other bumps in the road have been reported, such as the president’s purported desire to expand the size of the ballroom and encouraging those working on the construction to disregard traditional permitting, zoning and code requirements.
The ballroom, privately funded, includes donations from companies such as Amazon, Lockheed Martin, Meta and others.
