By DARLENE SUPERVILLE

WASHINGTON (AP) — Construction started this week on the $250 million ballroom that President Donald Trump is adding to the White House as construction crews began tearing down the facade of the East Wing, where the new space is being built.

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The Republican president and top White House officials had initially said nothing would be demolished during construction.

The 90,000-square-foot ballroom will dwarf the main White House itself, at nearly double the size, and Trump says it will accommodate 999 people.

Trump said on social media that the ballroom won’t cost taxpayers a dime because it is being privately funded by “many generous Patriots, Great American Companies, and, yours truly.”

Here are some things to know about the newest White House construction project:

Why is Trump building a ballroom?

Trump says the White House needs a large entertaining space and has complained that the East Room, the current largest space in the White House, is too small, holding about 200 people. He has frowned on the past practice of presidents hosting state dinners and other large events in tents on the South Lawn.

Who is paying the $250 million construction tab?

Trump says the project will be paid for with private donations and that no public money will be spent on the ballroom. The White House promised to release information on which individuals and corporations have pledged or donated money and invited some of the donors to an East Room dinner last week, but has not released a comprehensive list and breakdown of funds.

Some $22 million for the project came from YouTube, a Google subsidiary, as part of a recent settlement for a 2021 lawsuit Trump brought against the company.

The White House also has not said how much of his own money Trump is contributing.

Why tear down part of the East Wing to build the ballroom?

A window dangles from the East Wing as work continues on the demolition of a part of the East Wing of the White House, Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025, in Washington, before construction of a new ballroom. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

The East Wing is traditionally the social side of the White House and sits across East Executive Avenue from the Treasury Department. It’s where tourists and other guests enter for events.

The president and his chief spokesperson, Karoline Leavitt, said over the summer that the White House itself would remain intact as the ballroom was going up.

“It’ll be near it but not touching it,” Trump said. “Nothing will be torn down,” Leavitt added.

That turned out not to be the case.

The White House said some demolition was needed because the East Wing, the traditional home for the first lady and her staff, is being modernized as part of the ballroom project.

People watch as work continues on the demolition of a part of the East Wing of the White House, Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025, in Washington, before construction of a new ballroom. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Can Trump build a ballroom?

He’s moving ahead with construction despite the lack of sign-off from the National Capital Planning Commission, the executive branch agency that has jurisdiction over construction and major renovations to government buildings in the region.

Trump named a top White House aide, Will Scharf, to head the commission. Scharf has made a distinction between demolition work and rebuilding, saying the commission was only required to vet the latter.

What happens to the East Room?

By Trump’s telling, it will become a space where guests will mingle, sip cocktails and eat hors d’oeuvres until they are called into the ballroom for dinner. Trump said a set of windows in the room will be removed to create a passageway to and from the ballroom.

What will the new ballroom look like?

Renderings released by the White House suggest a strong resemblance to the gilded ballroom at Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s private club and home in Palm Beach, Florida.

The project also has grown in size since it was announced, going from accommodating 650 seated guests to holding 999 people, big enough to fit an inauguration if needed, he said at a recent White House dinner for donors. Windows will be bulletproof, he said.

When will the ballroom be completed?

The White House has said the ballroom will be ready for use before Trump’s second term ends in January 2029, an ambitious timeline.

Has Trump made other changes to the White House?

Yes. He has heavily redecorated the Oval Office by adding numerous portraits, busts and gold-toned adornments. He converted the Rose Garden into a stone-covered patio, installed towering flagpoles on the north and south lawns, and decorated an exterior wall with portraits of every president except his immediate predecessor, Democrat Joe Biden.

Gold colored ornaments and decor are seen as US President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC on September 25, 2025. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP) (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

Trump also said he renovated the bathroom in the famous Lincoln Bedroom in the private living quarters and laid down marble floors in a passageway leading to the South Lawn.

How has construction changed the White House over the years?

Presidents have added to the White House since construction began in 1792 for a host of reasons, and Trump aides say his decision to build a ballroom follows that long tradition.

Many of the prior projects were criticized as being too costly or too lavish, but eventually came to be accepted, according to the White House Historical Association.

Thomas Jefferson added the east and west colonnades.

Andrew Jackson built the North Portico on the Pennsylvania Avenue side of the White House, aligning with the South Portico that James Monroe added after the original mansion was rebuilt after the British burned it during the War of 1812.

Theodore Roosevelt added the West Wing to provide dedicated space for the president and key staff, while Franklin D. Roosevelt added the East Wing, which over time became the home base for the first lady’s staff and social functions.

One of the most significant White House renovations happened under Harry Truman, when the mansion was found to be so structurally unsound that he ordered a complete gutting of the interior that lasted from 1948 to 1952. The project, including Truman’s addition of a balcony to the second floor of the South Portico, was highly controversial.

Other changes include the creation of the Rose Garden during John F. Kennedy’s administration and Richard Nixon’s decision to convert an indoor swimming pool that was built for FDR’s physical therapy into a workspace for the growing White House press corps.

By JAKE OFFENHARTZ

NEW YORK (AP) — An immigration enforcement sweep targeting vendors on New York City’s famed Canal Street turned chaotic on Tuesday, as droves of bystanders and protesters surrounded federal agents and attempted to block them from carrying out the operation.

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The confrontation between the agents and hundreds of angry New Yorkers took place along a busy commercial thoroughfare that has long been a hub of the city’s not-so-underground market for knock-off designer handbags, watches, perfumes and sunglasses as well as phones and other electronics.

A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said the agents were carrying out an enforcement operation against sellers of “counterfeit goods” when “rioters who were shouting obscenities, became violent and obstructed law enforcement duties including blocking vehicles and assaulting law enforcement.”

At around 4 p.m., an Associated Press reporter observed dozens of federal agents as they made one of a number of arrests in the area, detaining a street vendor who appeared to be selling bedazzled smartphone cases.

A contingent of protesters then surrounded the masked officers, attempting to block their vehicle from driving off as they shouted “ICE out of New York” and other chants.

The agents, from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Border Patrol and other federal offices were seen pushing protesters to the ground and threatening them with pepper spray, before detaining several of them.

As more New Yorkers joined the fray, some of the federal agents retreated on foot, followed by jeering protesters and honking vehicles. Additional federal agents, armed in combat gear and carrying long guns, also arrived with a military tactical vehicle known as a BearCat and made additional arrests.

At least one person was arrested for assaulting an officer, the DHS spokesperson said. The spokesperson didn’t say how many vendors were detained in the operation.

In a statement, Mayor Eric Adams said the city had no involvement in the action and was still gathering details.

“Our administration has been clear that undocumented New Yorkers trying to pursue their American Dreams should not be the target of law enforcement, and resources should instead be focused on violent criminals,” he said.

The sweep came just two days after a conservative influencer shared video on X showing the bustling sidewalk bag vendors, urging the official ICE account to “check this corner out.”

By OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ and JANIE HAR

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — President Donald Trump keeps threatening to send National Guard troops to San Francisco next, blasting the California city as crime-ridden and saying its residents are clamoring for federal help.

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But local and state leaders say that couldn’t be farther from the truth, noting overall crime is down and the city has started to turn around its downtrodden pandemic image. Residents and workers out downtown this week said they’re puzzled and concerned by Trump’s threat.

“This is a safe American city,” Mayor Daniel Lurie told The Associated Press last week. “We got this in San Francisco.”

The Republican president has referenced crime as his justification for possibly sending troops to the city of roughly 830,000. He’s deployed the Guard over crime concerns to Washington, D.C., where he has direct control of the National Guard, and Memphis, where the Republican governor supports their presence. Los Angeles was the first city where Trump deployed the Guard, arguing it was necessary to protect federal buildings and agents as protesters fought back against mass immigration arrests. He’s since said they’re needed in Chicago and Portland, Oregon, as well.

Residents and leaders in Portland were surprised by Trump’s attention when he described the city as besieged by violent protests. In reality, nightly protests were small and limited to the area outside a federal immigration building. While there were some arrests for violence, the demonstrations were far less intense than those that roiled the downtown in 2020 following the death of George Floyd.

In San Francisco, too, Trump seems to be relying on an outdated picture of a city often targeted by conservatives.

“The difference is, I think they want us in San Francisco,” Trump said Sunday on Fox News. “San Francisco was truly one of the great cities of the world. And then, 15 years ago, it went wrong. It went woke.”

His comments angered and baffled Kate Freudenberger, who works in retail.

“You’ve been walking around the city, it’s peaceful, there is no insurrection,” she said Tuesday morning, adding that immigration authorities have not been as active in San Francisco as in other cities, “so there’s really been nothing for us to coalesce around.”

Marc Benioff, the chief executive of San Francisco-based software giant Salesforce, caused a stir when he told the New York Times earlier this month that he’d welcome Guard troops to help quell crime ahead of his major annual business conference. He has since apologized for his remarks, saying the conference was the “largest and safest” in its history and the Guard is not needed.

The city emerges from struggles

San Francisco is still recovering from the coronavirus pandemic, which emptied its downtown and brought renewed attention to street homelessness and open drug dealing. But signs indicate a city on the upswing. Artificial intelligence startups are snapping up office space, and home rental prices are rising. San Francisco saw a 21% increase from last year in office visits, according to location analytics platform Placer.ai, and public transit ridership is at its highest levels since the pandemic.

The Wall Street Journal this week declared the city was emerging from its “doom loop,” an article the mayor eagerly shared on social media.

Sidewalks are cleaner and tent encampments have largely disappeared from view. In the Tenderloin, one of the most troubled neighborhoods, teams of city and nonprofit workers on Monday helped school children cross the street, walked around picking up trash or counseled homeless people. It was a different image than during the pandemic, when hundreds of people camped on sidewalks.

Still, the Tenderloin is a problem spot for public drug use and dealing, as are the Mid-Market and Mission neighborhoods. But overall crime is down more than 26% this year compared to the same period last year, according to the San Francisco Police Department. Vehicle break-ins — which have vexed tourists and residents alike — are at a 22-year low, Lurie said.

Lurie, a centrist Democrat who has tried to avoid confrontations with Trump by ignoring many of the president’s comments, said Monday he’d welcome more federal help to arrest drug dealers and disrupt drug markets. But sending in the Guard wouldn’t achieve that, he said.

“The National Guard does not have the authority to arrest drug dealers—and sending them to San Francisco will do nothing to get fentanyl off the streets or make our city safer,” Lurie said in a statement.

San Francisco voters in 2024 gave police the authority to use drones, surveillance cameras and other technology to fight crime. They also ousted politically progressive District Attorney Chesa Boudin in a 2022 recall election and installed Brooke Jenkins, considered to be much tougher on crime than her predecessor. Lurie has pushed to hire and retain police officers, and entry-level police applications are up 40% over last year.

California leaders pledge to fight back

Meanwhile, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration has said it would push back forcefully on any deployment, as it did when Trump first ordered the California National Guard into Los Angeles against Newsom’s wishes. California Attorney General Rob Bonta vowed to “be in court within hours, if not minutes” if there is a federal deployment.

Lawsuits by Democratic officials in Chicago and Portland have so far blocked troops from going out on city streets.

Libby Baxter, a retired nurse, said Trump has sent the National Guard to Democratic cities to create “chaos and unrest” and she fears the same could happen in San Francisco.

“I believe that that may happen if they come to San Francisco because we are a very tolerant community, but we don’t do well with somebody coming in and trying to dictate or take over certain parts of our city,” she said.

“In philanthropy, scale is often talked about in millions of dollars. But the reality is that some of the most transformative projects in New York City start with much less.”

Love Wins NYC, a food pantry that feeds thousands of hungry New Yorkers every month, is among CitizensNYC’s grantees. (Citizens Committee for New York City)

How do you change your neighborhood? Sometimes, all it takes is a few thousand dollars and someone who believes in you. 

At CitizensNYC, we’ve spent 50 years investing in that kind of possibility. As one of the country’s first microgranting institutions, we’ve funded thousands of local leaders—New Yorkers who are deeply rooted in their communities and already working to solve the challenges right outside their front doors.

With grants of up to $5,000 and capacity-building support, we don’t just back ideas. We make long-term commitments to community leaders—investing in their success through coaching, skill-building workshops, affinity groups, larger convenings, collaborative projects, and connections to other private and public funding opportunities. This multi-pronged approach leads to something powerful: sustainable, community-led change. 

In philanthropy, scale is often talked about in millions of dollars. But the reality is that some of the most transformative projects in New York City start with much less. Our grantee partners begin with limited infrastructure, small budgets, and big ideas. What they lack in resources, they more than make up for in vision and understanding of local needs. And when they succeed, which they do, time and time again, it’s not just their communities that benefit. It’s the entire city. 

Two of our longtime partners, Flanbwayan Haitian Literacy Project and Think!Chinatown, offer a window into what this growth looks like. 

When Darnell Benoit founded Flanbwayan in 2004, she was a teacher trying to help newly arrived Haitian students navigate New York’s public school system. She had no formal nonprofit training—just a deep understanding of what her students needed and a desire to build something better.

With a $4,500 grant from CitizensNYC, Darnell got her start. “I was just a teacher with an idea,” she told us. “All of our firsts came from that first check. Our first space, hiring our first intern, buying our first computer.” 

Today, Flanbwayan is a cornerstone of Brooklyn’s Haitian community, offering culturally responsive programming, advocacy, and support to immigrant youth and families. “That seed funding made all the difference. It allowed me to dream bigger.”  Due to the size of her current operating budget, Darnell no longer qualifies for a CitizensNYC grant—and that’s a success story. 

In 2017, we awarded a grant to Yin Kong to support a small art installation in Manhattan’s Chinatown. That project became the seed for Think!Chinatown, an organization now recognized citywide for its work at the intersection of arts, culture, and community empowerment.

Like many of our grantee partners, Yin didn’t just use our funding to launch a project. She used our partnership to grow her capacity as a leader. We introduced her to experts in nonprofit finance. She recruited volunteers. The work grew. Today, Think!Chinatown is a community pillar. The organization has helped transform Manhattan’s Chinatown into a more connected, culturally vibrant, and civically engaged neighborhood.

From hosting community-wide events like the Chinatown Night Market and Storytelling Festival, to partnering on needs assessments that inform equitable planning, its work has built both visibility and power for longtime residents. What began as a small, art-centered initiative has grown into a trusted hub for civic engagement—mobilizing resources, preserving cultural heritage, and creating joyful public spaces that reflect the community’s voice and vision. 

Stories like these aren’t exceptions. Small organizations all over New York City are making a huge impact. 

And many of the partners we fund don’t stay small forever. They grow into anchor institutions, trusted neighborhood spaces where people find support, resources, and a sense of belonging. They win additional grants, build new coalitions, and shape policy. Other grantee partners have gone on to lead citywide climate resilience work and launch school-based health initiatives, for instance. And nearly all of them started with a single CitizensNYC microgrant. 

One of them is Brooklyn Level Up, founded by Allyson Martinez. Over the course of three consecutive years, Allyson received CitizensNYC microgrants to support youth-led environmental justice projects, entrepreneurship training, and racial equity initiatives. Each grant helped her grow her vision—scaling from one-time neighborhood events to a multi-service nonprofit advancing community-first development and local power. Today, Brooklyn Level Up is a model for what long-term, grassroots investment can achieve. 

And Allyson’s journey has come full circle. This year, she became one of our first CitizensNYC Elliott Fellows—a new initiative honoring leaders who’ve outgrown our grant eligibility but remain deeply tied to our mission. As a Fellow, Allyson now helps coach and advise emerging grantees, building a virtuous circle of community leadership: from seed funding, to sustained impact, to giving back. 

This kind of grassroots pipeline is an overlooked but vital part of our city’s nonprofit ecosystem. We invest early—when others won’t—and stay connected long after a group has outgrown our grants. It’s not just about impact, it’s about strategy: microgrants aren’t a stopgap, they’re a smart investment.

In a moment when public systems are strained, the highest return comes from funding proximate leaders who already know how to get things done. With a modest grant and the right support, our partners turn trust into action—and action into lasting change. 

There’s a phrase we hear often from grantee partners: “You were there at the beginning.” At CitizensNYC, we take that role seriously. We just want to see our partners win. 

And they do.

Julie L. Shapiro is the CEO of Citizens Committee for New York City. 

The post Opinion: Funding The First Step to Community-Led Change  appeared first on City Limits.