The New York Times defended its report on President Donald Trump’s plans for a new White House ballroom on Sunday as White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt and the president pushed back on the story’s depiction of the project, which included claims the plans weren’t properly scrutinized.
Leavitt on X criticized the three Times journalists behind story — which analyzed the ballroom’s design through an architectural lens — as “random people” who “never built anything” and said Trump and his architect “have built world-class buildings around the world.”
“They are ensuring the People’s House finally has a beautiful ballroom that’s been needed for decades — at no expense to the taxpayer,” Leavitt wrote on Sunday.
Times spokesperson Danielle Rhoades Ha responded to Leavitt on X, noting the story relied on interviews with architects, government officials and historical experts on the public plans for this new $400 million project. The project will be paid for by a collection of donors, the administration has said.
The story also noted architects’ views that, because of the building’s rushed process and the typical timetable for White House renovations and new D.C. monument projects, the structure could prove lackluster.
“Compared with other major projects in Washington, this one has had little time for public review, and experts warn the design has many issues,” Rhoades Ha wrote. “We’re confident in the accuracy of our story.”
Still, Trump blasted the Times during an Air Force One gaggle with reporters in which he held up mock-ups of the building, claiming the project has “no fake windows” and no longer had a staircase to the building’s south that led to nowhere. “That was replaced a long time ago,” he said.
“Building, beautiful capital, beautiful building, and one of the — I think it will be the finest ballroom of its kind anywhere in the world,” he added.
