White House tours cancelled indefinitely because of Trump’s ballroom

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Public tours of the White House have been suspended indefinitely because of planned construction on the massive ballroom President Donald Trump expects to start building next month.

About a half-million people tour the White House every year, and while cancellations happen frequently, a hiatus that could stretch months or years is rare.

The administration canceled tours scheduled for September and is not accepting tour requests beyond that, according to multiple congressional offices and an email sent by the White House to congressional offices. On their websites, members of Congress gave various reasons for the moratorium: “scheduled construction,” “extensive renovations” and “construction of President Trump’s new ballroom.”

The Trump administration did not respond to questions about the tours, adding to the secrecy that has surrounded the ballroom project since it was announced three weeks ago. Officials have not released the ballroom’s architectural plans or its exact location, even though Trump is rushing to break ground on the $200 million project within six weeks.

The White House normally opens tour dates 90 days in advance, allowing congressional staffers to book them for constituents through a scheduling portal accessible only by House and Senate offices, according to two congressional staffers familiar with the process, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

In early to mid-July, when schedulers would typically be setting tours for October, the administration stopped offering new dates, one of those staffers said. White House officials offered congressional offices no explanation for the suspension of tours.

After the administration publicly announced Trump’s vision for the ballroom, the White House sent an email to congressional tour coordinators that tours had been postponed indefinitely, the congressional staffer said.

Then it started canceling tours that had been scheduled for September, prompting congressional offices to send messages to constituents, according to multiple congressional websites.

“Unfortunately, the White House has canceled and is no longer accepting tour requests for the month of September due to the construction of a new ballroom on the White House grounds. I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and understand how this may be disappointing news,” read one such message.

Deanna Moberg got her cancellation email on Aug. 14 from the White House and the office of her congressman, Rep. Michael Baumgartner (R-Washington). Moberg, 58, started planning in February to come to D.C. in the first week of September with her husband, Tim, and their adult son. Aware of the 90-day window to book a tour, she began contacting members of Congress in Washington state in early June.

Moberg, who lives in West Richland, Washington, was almost successful. The White House confirmed their Sept. 3 tour in an email on June 5 and reconfirmed it in a follow-up missive on Aug. 3. But 11 days later, the White House reneged.

“I was disappointed,” Moberg said. But, she added, she and her family have a plan B: They’re going to visit the White House Historical Association’s exhibit “The People’s House,” a 33,000-square-foot exhibit that includes a large-scale White House model and a full-scale replica of the Oval Office.

In a Reddit group about D.C. travel tips, multiple people offered the exhibit as a consolation to disappointed tourists who had had their September White House tours canceled.

It is not uncommon for tours to be canceled, sometimes at the last minute. The White House is the home and office of the president of the United States and the first lady. Other top officials, including the vice president and key members of the White House staff, work out of the building. Unexpected changes in the president’s schedule, such as this week’s last-minute meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and other European leaders for talks on ending the Russia-Ukraine war, can require additional security.

Long-term suspensions of tours are rare, however. Tours were stopped for a lengthy period after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, for example, and for shorter periods during budget crises.

On July 31, the White House announced plans to build a $200 million, 90,000-square-foot ballroom, which would be one of the biggest changes to “the People’s House” in a century.

Since the announcement, Trump has repeatedly highlighted the need for a larger space to host world leaders; the largest room at the White House seats 200 people, while the proposed ballroom would seat more than three times that.

Trump has promised to use no public money to pay for the ballroom. He said he would pay for the construction through private donations and write a check himself if he has to. He promised to release the names of donors.

Moberg said she understands that presidents have unpredictable schedules and that White House tours sometimes need to be canceled. But she would have felt it more justified to have hers scuttled by a last-minute visit with a world leader rather than a nine-figure, years-long construction project that would change one of the most famous and symbolic buildings in the world.

“The nation was kind of blindsided by that,” she said, adding: “It’s the People’s House, and construction of a ballroom kind of came out of nowhere.”

The moratorium on tours comes almost exactly six months after the incoming administration resumed them after taking over the White House from Joe Biden.

First lady Melania Trump made the announcement: “The President and I are excited to reopen the White House to those interested in the extraordinary story of this iconic and beautiful landmark,” she said in a February statement. “There is much to learn about the American Presidency, the First Families who have lived here, and our Nation’s rich history from a firsthand experience at the White House.”