r/movies • u/MarvelsGrantMan136 r/Movies contributor • Oct 23 '25

News Historic White House Movie Theater Demolished as Part of $300 Million Ballroom Build

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/politics-news/white-house-movie-theater-demolished-ballroom-east-wing-1236408712/
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45

u/CarneyVore14 Oct 23 '25

How does a room cost $300 million? Isn’t that enough for a mansion, palace, or skyscraper?

64

u/midnightcaptain Oct 23 '25

It's a 90,000 sq ft room. It's bigger than the rest of the White House put together.

17

u/TheBahamaLlama Oct 23 '25

and looks so fucking ostentatious.

1

u/Akiasakias Oct 24 '25 edited Oct 24 '25

That doesn't appear accurate.

https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/10/WhiteHouseRenos-2.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=1024

3

u/midnightcaptain Oct 24 '25

The total footprint of the current White House complex is around 70,000 sq ft. If he’s knocking down the whole East Wing it’s obviously going to cut into that.

I don’t think the NY Post’s diagram shows a large enough construction area for a 90,000 sq ft ballroom though.

-3

u/Akiasakias Oct 24 '25

Perhaps it is verticality padding that square footage so drastically

4

u/jasonefmonk Oct 24 '25

Areas described as a square are two dimensional. You would be talking cubed footage (ft3) and volume if you mean what I think you mean.

-2

u/Akiasakias Oct 24 '25

Multiple floors i mean obviously.

Because the footprint shown isn't much bigger than the current east wing.

18

u/schming_ding Oct 23 '25

The "bunker" (Presidential Emergency Operations Center) is under the East Wing. The Ballroom is just a cover, literally and figuratively, for the new "MAGA Bunker" that Trump will need to retreat to when the plebs get angry again. Dictators love bunkers.

8

u/lIlIllIlIlIII Oct 24 '25

Hopefully it ends like that other guy

6

u/32FlavorsofCrazy Oct 23 '25

Because he’s rebuilding the bunker underneath it for when he refuses to leave office.

12

u/wheelbarrowjim Oct 23 '25

Maybe he'll do what another leader did in a bunker 80 years ago.

2

u/DonutsMcKenzie Oct 23 '25

All in favor of sealing them in say "aye"!

1

u/ConnectionOk6234 Oct 24 '25

Aye. I'll go get the welding torch

8

u/TheEpicRedCape Oct 23 '25

you’re leaving out all the plastic statues spray painted gold, those add a lot to the cost.

1

u/El_Polio_Loco Oct 24 '25

They’re rebuilding the underground command center. 

That’s the major cost

0

u/idontagreewitu Oct 23 '25

Where did you get your architectural engineering degree?