The White House ballroom construction is in full swing.
On Tuesday morning, construction crews were spotted removing a large tree on the White House's South Lawn.
The move is reported to be part of President Trump's plan to build a presidential ballroom on the grounds of the White House South Lawn.
Work crews have started cutting down trees, removing shrubs and digging up parts of the South Lawn of the White House as they begin work on President Donald Trump's project to construct a $200 million, 90,000-square-foot ballroom on a site just south of the building's East Wing.
"Right there, you see all the trucks?" Trump asked reporters Thursday while on the South Lawn and pointing toward the East Wing. "They've just started construction of the new ballroom."
Details of the project remain shrouded in secrecy and uncertainty. The White House has not released architectural plans for the building or its exact location and has, so far, not submitted the project to the National Capital Planning Commission, the government body that typically reviews plans for changes to federal property in the capital region.
Officials have not specified how many trees on the mansion's grounds will be removed to make way for the new ballroom.
Earlier in the year, Trump planted a magnolia tree to honor President Andrew Jackson:
NPS provided a historical context of the "Jackson Magnolia":
Folklore tells us that the southern magnolia tree was planted by President Andrew Jackson with seeds brought to Washington from the Hermitage, the President's home near Nashville, Tennessee.
The seeds were planted to honor the memory of Jackson's late wife, Rachel, who had died suddenly just months prior to him assuming office. Historical photographic documentation shows that a magnolia first appeared at this location near the South Portico in the 1860s, still the tree is attributed to President Jackson. In 2006, the tree was designated as a Witness Tree by the National Park Service, having borne witness to many "significant historic and cultural events."
The base of the tree also took the brunt of a Cessna airplane crash which targeted the White House in September 1994 and was subject to significant branch removal and pruning in December 2017.
Despite ongoing preservation efforts, the 'Jackson Magnolia', which was estimated to be over 150 years old, reached the end of its lifespan and was removed due to safety concerns on April 7, 2025.
The average lifespan of a southern magnolia is one hundred years. A descendant sapling of the Andrew Jackson Commemorative Southern Magnolia was planted by President Donald Trump on April 8, 2025, continues the tradition of honoring this tree's history while investing in the future.
This is a Guest Post from our friends over at WLTReport.