Trump’s controversial ballroom could actually solve a decades-long problem— and takes first formal steps for construction

President Donald Trump’s sprawling new East Wing ballroom project has attracted widespread controversy — but promises to solve a problem identified by first families and their social secretaries on both sides of the aisle for decades.

On Thursday, construction of the planned 90,000-square-foot space will take a key step toward becoming a reality when the White House formally seeking approval from the National Capital Planning Commission, the official planning agency for federal land and buildings.

The White House has told the NCPC that the purpose of the expansion is to “establish a permanent, secure event space that would expand its capacity for official state functions” which “eliminates reliance on temporary tents, temporary support facilities, and associated infrastructure strains, and protects the historic integrity and cultural landscape of the White House and its grounds.”

Anyone involved in presidential party planning has had to contend with the lack of a permanent event space for state dinners and other large-scale official affairs at the White House. East Room capacity is around 200 people. Anything bigger needs to move outdoors.

That has required a tent, which in recent years has cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, and, when the event is over, the replacement and rehabilitation of the White House lawn, which runs in the tens of thousands, according to a source familiar with White House planning across multiple administrations.

The bill has been footed by the State Department as part of the overall state visit budget.

The National Park Service, which has jurisdiction over White House grounds, commissioned studies for various solutions over the years, which were routinely shelved because there was no political appetite to advocate for