The “Real Estate President” is personally hand-picking the stones for his most controversial project yet. On Friday morning, January 2, 2026, President Donald Trump’s motorcade made a surprise stop at Arc Stone & Tile in Lake Worth, Florida, just four miles from Mar-a-Lago. According to White House officials, Trump is spending his own money to purchase high-end marble and onyx for a massive, $400 million ballroom project that has already physically transformed the Executive Mansion. The stop highlights Trump’s hands-on obsession with “beautifying” D.C., a mission that has preservationists in a full-blown panic.
The project is currently a legal lightning rod. In October 2025, the historic East Wing was demolished to make way for the 90,000-square-foot ballroom—an addition that will be nearly twice the size of the original White House. While a federal judge has so far allowed construction to continue, citing “national security concerns” because of the presidential bunker located beneath the site, Trump is facing a barrage of lawsuits. From his plan to paint the granite Eisenhower Executive Office Building white to his proposal for marble armrests at the newly renamed “Trump-Kennedy Center,” the President is systematically attempting to replace D.C.’s “slate gray” aesthetic with the gold and marble opulence of a modern-day Versailles.
