Trump says the new White House ballroom will be 'a little bigger' than initially planned

President Donald Trump told NBC News that the new ballroom he’s adding to the White House campus will be larger than first described, with a capacity of 900 people.

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Saturday that the new ballroom he’s adding to the White House campus will be larger than first described, with a capacity of 900 people.

In a brief telephone interview with NBC News, the president said: “We’re making it a little bigger. It will be top of the line, as good as it can get anywhere in the world.”

A White House statement in July showed that the ballroom would seat up to 650 people, meaning the planned capacity has grown by nearly 40%.

Trump has said the ballroom will fill an important need at a crowded White House, sparing foreign leaders and other dignitaries from traipsing out to tents set up on the South Lawn for dinners and receptions.

The White House has estimated the cost at $200 million. Trump reiterated in the interview that he will personally help pay for the addition. Private donors — “patriots,” as the White House has called them — are also expected to chip in.