Two in three Americans oppose President Donald Trump's plan to tear down the White House East Wing and build a new ballroom by a 2-to-1 margin, according to a new poll. And even larger majorities reject proposals to place his signature on U.S. paper money and build a massive arch near Arlington National Cemetery.
The ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos survey found that 56% of U.S. adults oppose demolishing the East Wing to make way for a 90,000-square-foot ballroom, compared with 28% who support the plan and 15% who are unsure.
The administration announced the ballroom project in July 2025, with Trump saying it would not interfere with the existing White House structure. Demolition had begun by October on the East Wing, which was built in 1902 and renovated in 1942.
The proposal has become one of the most visible examples of Trump's push to leave a physical mark on federal landmarks during his second term. After beginning his second term, Trump dismissed the appointed board members of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and appointed new ones who made him chair and would vote to rename it the Trump Kennedy Center.
The poll also found broad resistance to Trump's proposed signature on paper currency, with 68% of respondents opposing replacing the Treasury secretary's signature with Trump's on U.S. paper money. Only 12% supported it, and 19% are unsure. More than half of respondents, 55%, said they strongly oppose the idea.
The Treasury Department announced in March that Trump's signature would be added to future U.S. paper currency. No previous U.S. president's name has appeared on currency in that way, and federal law bars living people from appearing on U.S. currency and securities.
The poll also found that Americans are skeptical of another Trump-backed project, a proposed 250-foot arch near Memorial Circle, close to Arlington National Cemetery. The poll found 52% oppose the arch, 21% support it, and 26% are unsure. Strong opposition, at 41%, outpaced strong support, at 9%, by more than 4-to-1.
The findings show sharp partisan divides, but also weakness among independents. Nearly 9 in 10 Democrats and about 6 in 10 independents oppose the ballroom project. Among Republicans, 65% support it, but that support drops to 31% among non-MAGA Republicans. The poll was conducted April 24-28 among 2,560 U.S. adults, with the ballot questions about the ballroom, arch, and currency asked of a half sample of 1,292 adults.
The margin of error for those questions is plus or minus 2.8 percentage points. Ipsos said the survey was conducted in English and Spanish using its KnowledgePanel, a probability-based panel designed to represent U.S. adults.
