US president Donald Trump has invoked the King's forthcoming state visit to underscore the necessity of a contentious £301 million White House ballroom. Mr Trump argued the development was essential for entertaining a large number of foreign dignitaries and world leaders.
The 90,000-square-foot project, which saw the East Wing torn down last October, has already been the subject of a legal challenge seeking to halt its construction. The White House is situated on federal parkland.
A panel reviewing the plans, headed by a senior presidential aide, is scheduled to hold a final vote on the scheme on 2 April. This follows unanimous backing for the proposal earlier this year from the US Commission of Fine Arts, whose members were appointed by Mr Trump.
Speaking to a group of farmers as he overlooked the building site, the president and billionaire developer declared: “I love construction.”
He added: “That’s a big dig. We’re building a ballroom.
“Every president has said can we have a ballroom please, a room where you could have a lot of people?
“So when the president of China, France, when somebody comes over from the UK, including the King, we have the King coming over very shortly, King Charles, so we can have, like, a large room, because the White House is incredible, but it never had a ballroom.
“That’ll be the finest ballroom anywhere in the world when it’s completed.
“I love construction. I love building beautiful things.”
The now-demolished East Wing was originally built in 1902 during Theodore Roosevelt’s presidency and subsequently expanded in 1942 under Franklin Roosevelt.
The privately funded ballroom development, which is designed to hold 1,000 guests, is due to be completed before the end of Mr Trump’s presidency in 2029.
Earlier this week, the president denied transatlantic tensions over the Iran war would affect the King’s planned trip to the US.
There have been calls for the historic royal trip to be scrapped or delayed because of the ongoing Middle East crisis.
The tour has yet to be officially announced, but the King and Queen are expected to visit Washington and New York in April to mark the 250th anniversary of American independence.
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