Two kings are particularly famous for building grand ballrooms: King Louis XIV of France and King Ludwig II of Bavaria. King Louis XIV built The Hall of Mirrors (Galerie des Glaces) which is arguably the most famous example of a grand ballroom in history.
King Luwig II built a Great Hall of Mirrors at Herrenchiemsee, Germany as a tribute to Louis XIV. Of course, being a king meant Ludwig II had to build a larger version featuring 33 grand chandeliers and 25 frescoes depicting the life of Louis XIV.
In 1855 The Buckingham Palace ballroom was completed for Queen Victoria. It measured 120 ft long and 60 feet wide and 45 ft high.
Thus far we've covered old ballrooms built by kings. They were all built for the same purpose of impressing royalty throughout Europe. They were the ultimate statement of power and opulence for the wealthy.
During the Gilded Age Cornelius Vanderbilt II built a mansion on Fifth Avenue with a large ballroom (Pictured in photo above) that could have held four regular middle class two-story homes in its volume. At the time it was the largest ballroom around.
In 1937 Hitler decided he needed a grand ballroom to impress people with and he partly demolished the Old Reich Chancellery in an interesting coincidence since Trump tore down part of The White House to build his ballroom. The new building was built during an economic depression when German citizens were trying to keep up with the rapidly growing inflation on all goods in the country. It also had a bunker like Trump's monstrosity does beneath the bottom of the ballroom.
That brings us to Trump's planned abomination ballroom twice the size of The White House which was partly demolished during the construction. Because Trump loves the Gilden Age buildings and interiors he's copied their ostentatious design.
It's important to point out that Trump didn't have permission to demolish the White House East Wing and went about construction before anyone could do anything about it. This vanity project is going to have a strong resemblance to the gilded ballroom at Mar-a-Lago, Trump's private club and home in Palm Beach, Florida.
Because Trump is overseeing the project and letting very little information out on it, we don't know exactly who is paying for it.
Right now, it looks like the bulk of the cost is being covered by CEOs and companies seeking favors from Trump, who is the most transactional president we've ever had. But the cost keeps going up. The cost started at $200 million and has ballooned to $350 million. I suspect that cost is going to go up as the project progresses.
As you may have deduced ballrooms have always been a symbol of power and wealth. To see one dwarfing the White House - a symbol of the People's House - is disgusting and demoralizing.
The whole project is just another grift in Trump's polarizing presidency. It's satisfying Trump's enormous ego despite the optics of a country shut down and struggling with rising inflation. Hitler did the same thing for the same reason.
As it Stands, the struggle to save democracy has never been greater than it is now with a corrupt narcissist president who believes he's above the law.
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