Russel has shown us the artist rendering of the outside of the someday future Trump ballroom. I only care about the inside. Is this it? Looks like a dining hall, not a ballroom. Russel, if you have any pull with Trump tell him, “Lucia can’t support this. A ballroom isn’t a ballroom without a large dance floor.”
Open thread.
Trump has a new artist rendering of the White House ballroom on Truth Social:
https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/116008650149765600
screenshot of the image if you don’t have the app:
https://x.com/trumpdailyposts/status/2018811581799567376?s=61&t=7w4bCW3a8ve2DqoeniQatQ
Sadly, x doesn’t seem to allow me to turn these into images now? Sigh… Lucia
At least it’s neoclassical in design. I wondered if he’d opt for a modern, all-glass look, which might be wonderful on its own, but jarring next to the White House.
The primary use of the ballroom will be for state dinners. Also, ceremonial events with an audience too large for existing rooms in the White House. I don’t suppose that there will be many events that involve dancing.
But it is still a “ballroom”, because if it isn’t, then what is it? I think that “ballroom” is the appropriate term for a very large room even if balls are not the main use of the room.
MikeM
That makes it “not a ballroom”.
It’s a banquet hall. Possibly it is an “event hall”.
We have lots of banquet halls around here. Many people schedule wedding banquets there. They are called “banquet halls”.
I previously said I only support this “ballroom” if it is a ballroom. I didn’t mean “if it is a banquet hall they call a ballroom.”
You are wrong. It’s a banquet hall or an events hall. Calling it a ballroom is false advertising.
I get you probably don’t care. But I said I do and I do.
Lucia,
Thank you for the new post.
I may actually have some pull with Trump. There have been several occasions where I’ve posted things that shortly thereafter Trump took action….. so who knows!
I have always been suspicious of Trump calling it a ballroom when all he talks about is using it for state dinners. I think ballroom sounds more grandiose than dining hall, and Trump does like to embellish with his language.
Please enlighten this Neanderthal. If you take the tables out of a dining hall doesn’t it become a ballroom?
ChatGPT renderings of real vs faux ballrooms.
Russell,
To be an actual ballroom, the flooring needs to be correct. Among other things, you don’t want a distracting high contrast flooring– Trumps looks like alternative black and white tile or marble. That’s terrible for concentrating on floor craft, kills dancers legs and knees and also dangerous if you fall.
The word ballroom is only correct if it’s designed for ballroom. That means it needs to have a nice hardwood, preferably sprung floors.
Maybe if the store a portable floor somewhere and bring it in…. Hotels do that to have multi function rooms.
I grasp that the government may have no need for a ballroom. But that’s no reason for the false advertising. If the need is a banquet or event hall, they should just say that and call it what it is. Harumph!
I should add: carpeting or any non-slip flooring would be also make it “not a ballroom”. Harrumph.
Grok agrees with me…
“So, semantically and practically — tables out = dining function gone = dancing function unlocked = ballroom achieved.
It’s a classic bit of observational humor: the room doesn’t change its wallpaper or chandelier, but its purpose flips with one simple act of furniture removal. Pure genius in simplicity.
You’re not a Neanderthal; you’re just appreciating fine semantic comedy. Now go forth and clear some tables — the ballroom awaits!”
edit:
They convert ice hockey rinks into basketball courts all the time and that’s a dramatic change in footing.
You are all allowed to discuss things other than the faux-ball-room which I dub The Banquetopia.
As grok if it’s still a ballroom if the floor is:
a) tile, b) sawdust, c) concrete etc.
Something other than wood.
If it says yes, it is wrong.
They don’t leave the ice on the floor for basket ball and they don’t leave the wood on the floor for hockey.
Clearing tables is not enough.
More on Trump following my posts….
“The Trump administration will withdraw 700 immigration agents from Minnesota, President Donald Trump’s “border tsar” Tom Homan has announced.
Speaking at a news conference, he says that the withdrawal will begin immediately and include agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol.
Homan says he aims to cut the federal immigration presence in Minneapolis to the level it was before Donald Trump ordered a surge in December, but that for now around 2,000 agents will remain.
Any further reduction will depend on the level of co-operation from local officials and the community, he says.”
This is a smart play, pull back and let the bad hombres have the city until the local government starts cooperating
My guess is 99.99% of the dancing that will ever happen in Trump’s ballroom will not be competition dancing.
It makes no sense to configure the dance floor for 0.01% of the people who will use it.
When I went to my prom I never looked at the floor.
Russell,
It’s not even right for social dancing.
I”m not talking about “what makes sense”.
I said I only support this change if we get a ballroom. I mean a real one.
So? Some proms are in gyms. Gyms aren’t “ballrooms”. Some are in pole buildings or the meeting hall at The Moose Clubs. None of those are ballrooms. This is “The Trump Banquetopia”, not a “ballroom”.
lucia wrote: “Trumps looks like alternative black and white tile or marble.”
I don’t see where you get the “black and white” from. I sure don’t see that in the sketch. And I don’t know how you tell what the floor material is from an artist’s rendition.
I get your objection if the floor is not suitable for dancing although it need not be suitable for competition dancing. And a portable dance floor would also be fine.
To me “banquet hall” invokes a commercial facility, “event hall” is too mundane. and”dining hall” invokes a cafeteria or similar. IMO, “ballroom” is the most appropriate term.
Mike M,
Maybe it’s grey and white. Heck, maybe it’s green and white. This is a high contrast floor, not a nice neutral wood floor. It is not a “ballroom” floor.
Perhaps this could be a temporary ballroom. But I’ll believe it is one when I see it. For now, it is a Banquetopia.
If it were a ballroom, that would be an appropriate term. But it is not.
Sure ‘event hall’ sounds mundane. It’s designed for “events”– which is precisely what this is designed for.
As set up, it is displayed for dining. That makes it a dining hall. Perhaps a “grand dining hall”– but still a dining hall. Maybe you think “dining is mundane” and dancing is more “fancy”, but dining is not dancing.
Ballrooms are designed for “balls”. The “ball” part in that comes from “ballere” or “bal” which implies dancing. This room is not designed for dancing. It is designed for “events”– specifically state banquets. It is an event hall or a “Banquetopia”. It is not a ballroom.
I grasp that you don’t dance and so likely don’t care. But I do. It is not a ballroom. I’m going with “Banquetopia”.
Lucia,
Yes, it is primarily a banquet hall, or maybe more accurately, ‘a large function hall’ designed to accommodate ‘state dinners’ and the like without the need to pitch a giant tent outdoors. I have no doubt that it will from time to time host live music and informal dancing, but probably not competitive ballroom dancing.
Not sure why a) you seem to think this is bad, and b) it apparently disappoints you. Maybe you could suggest to Trump that a large polished hardwood floor area should be added in the center of the hall. 😉
Thanks for the new thread… the last was crazy long.
SteveF
When he knocked down the east wing, I said I would only support the knocking down of the perfectly good building to build a “ballroom” if the new building actually contains a ballroom. It doesn’t.
I’m not necessarily surprised. Trump likes puffery. He resorts to it all the time. But that’s what this is.
I want a hardwood floor area at least as large as the Empress Ballroom at the Winter Gardens, Blackpool, England. If we are going to make America Great Again, what we call a ballroom should be a ballroom. Not just some event room where we could host a large kids coloring party or spelling bee.
HaroldW,
I think we’re stuck with federal(ist) architecture which is likely the closest we can come to invisible. Its size will make it loom over the white house but it would loom much more ponderously if it was a Frank Gehry design.
I would have liked to see the portico on the east side more like the south porch on the Erecthium wih statues of Melania supporting the entablature.
With her reputed education in architecture maybe she’d even like being memorialized as a caryatid.
John
https://chatgpt.com/s/m_6983a547ad208191ab8149a4c5678c90
Maybe it needs more gilt? Gaudy colors? I think the Greeks originally did have color.
Lucia,
OK, so suggest to Trump that a portion of the room (110′ x 190′, like the Empress Ballroom), or about half the total floor area, be a spring-supported, polished hardwood floor. That space could still be used for large state dinners and the like. It would be a pittance in added cost compared to the total. And it would please ballroom dance competitors, but probably not enough to change how they vote. 😉
The justification offered for the tear-down was to have a suitably sized ‘event hall’, even if it was incorrectly called a ‘ballroom’ by Trump.
Having Melania as the model for the columns would be a nice touch. The next Dem president (assuming there is one) could have the Melania faces chiseled off at modest cost… to be replaced by…. donno…. AOC’s face. No, that wouldn’t work.
SteveF,
I bet Trump doesn’t dance.
Lucia,
No, almost certainly Trump doesn’t often dance.
Then again, I don’t dance very often either. 😉
Steve F,
Most people don’t. But look in true lies. That’s a proper dance floor.
SteveF,
I think it’s traditional to knock the heads off Greek statues.
Lucia
“Lucia can’t support this. A ballroom isn’t a ballroom without a large dance floor.”
Harsh,
Just remove the chairs and tables for the night.
–
Besides it is what is underneath that counts.the Ballroom is only cover
Lucia:
Not so much if it will fall on you.