Trump hosts dinner for ballroom donors at White House

WASHINGTON

US President Donald Trump hosted a dinner Wednesday for those who donated funds to create the new White House ballroom.

"We have a lot of legends in the room tonight and that is why we are here, to celebrate you because you gave tremendous amounts of money to see a ballroom built for the first time at the White House," Trump told the crowd.

He told the donors that they "have really, really been very generous."

"We're going to build a room that's going to able to hold literally the inauguration if we want. All of the glass on the sides is bulletproof. It's 999 people it can hold."

In July, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt announced the construction of the $200 million, 90,000-square-foot (8,361-square-meter) ballroom which would be able to seat 650 people.

Leavitt said Trump and other donors would donate the funds necessary to build the structure, to be completed “long before” the end of his term in 2029.