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Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is facing criticism for claiming that the Trump administration’s top priority is the $250 million construction of a new ballroom to replace the East Wing of the White House, as the government shutdown nears its first month.
On Monday, Walz announced a plan to provide $4 million in emergency funding to support food shelves while blaming President Donald Trump and Republicans for the ongoing shutdown.
He cited comments made by White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
“They are choosing not to fund these programs … and when the White House press secretary said the top priority is the ballroom, we could not disagree more,” Walz said.
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Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz repeated a claim that the Trump administration’s main priority is the construction of a multi-million ballroom in the White House amid the ongoing government shutdown. (Abbie Parr/AP Photo)
However, Leavitt’s remarks came when a reporter asked whether Trump was considering other renovations or major projects at the White House aside from the ballroom and Rose Garden patio.
“Not to my knowledge, no, but he’s a builder at heart — clearly — and so his heart and his mind are always churning about how to improve things here on the White House grounds,” Leavitt said. “But at this moment in time, of course, the ballroom is really the president’s main priority.”
The Republican National Committee said Walz was “shamelessly continuing Democrats’ lie about Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.”
An excavator works to clear rubble after the East Wing of the White House was demolished on October 23, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Eric Lee/Getty Images)
On Tuesday, Leavitt posted on X: “Stop lying, Tampon Tim.”
Digital has reached out to Walz’s office for comment.
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Other Democrats have also accused Trump of prioritizing the ballroom rather than issues important to voters.
“The Trump administration just declared that erecting a ballroom is the President’s main priority,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., wrote on X in response to Leavitt’s remarks. “Meanwhile. The cost of living is way too high and the Republican healthcare crisis threatens millions of Americans.”
PolitiFact, a fact-checking website that rates the accuracy of claims by elected officials, noted that his statement was false.
A McCrery Architects rendering provided by the White House of the new ballroom. (The White House)
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The construction of a new formal ballroom has become a political lightning rod, despite the cost being financed jointly by Trump and private donors, not taxpayers.
The new ballroom will accommodate approximately 650 seated guests and will stay true to the White House’s classical design, Leavitt said in July.
