Two days into 2026, President Trump and his motorcade made a surprise pit stop to find just the right marble for his White House ballroom.
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WASHINGTON ‒ Two days into 2026, President Donald Trump and his motorcade made a surprise pit stop to find just the right marble for his White House ballroom.
Trump, who is staying at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida for the holidays, on Jan. 2 stopped at Arc Stone & Tile in Lake Worth, Florida, where Trump “at his own expense” purchased marble and onyx for the ballroom, according to a White House official.
Reporters were not allowed to join the president as he shopped inside the store. After Trump was finished, the motorcade continued on to the Trump International Golf Club, where the president played golf.
It’s not the first time Trump has shopped at Arc Stone & Tile, a wholesale stone supplier located about six miles from Mar-a-Lago. According to the company’s website, Arc Stone & Tile in 2004 supplied marble from Brescia, Italy for the ballroom floor at Mar-a-Lago.
The marble at Mar-a-Lago, known as Breccia Oniciata, or classic peach, is a composite stone composed of several minerals bonded together, according to the company. “The Breccia Damascata was his choice for the new ballroom that he had just built on the premises back in 2004,” the website says. “Of course, no ordinary format would suffice.”
Early site excavation and other construction work for Trump’s 90,000 square-foot White House ballroom, which has been challenged in court by historic preservationists, is underway. The White House’s East Wing was quickly demolished in October to make way for the addition.
It was not immediately clear what type of marble Trump purchased for the White House ballroom. Attempts to reach Arc Stone & Tile by phone were unsuccessful. A company voicemail said the store is closed for winter break and will reopen on Monday, Jan. 5.
Trump wants the ballroom finished before the end of his term in January 2029. The White House plans to present design plans for the ballroom to the National Capital Planning Commission at the panel’s Jan. 8 meeting.
Trump has vowed to use private donations and his own money to pay for the ballroom. “We’re under budget and ahead of schedule,” Trump said on Dec. 29 of a project he now says will cost $400 million, significantly more than the $250 million he initially projected.
“It’s bigger than I told you ‒ after realizing we’re going to do the inauguration in that building,” Trump said of the price increase.
Trump has said the ballroom ‒ which will have a capacity of 999 people ‒ is needed to hold large White House events that currently take place outdoors or in the much smaller East Room.
In December, Trump hired a new lead architect, Shalom Baranes of Washington, DC, after the president clashed with the project’s original architect over the size of the massive addition. James McCrery II, the original lead architect, has stayed on as a consultant.
A Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll in October found 56% of Americans oppose the East Wing’s demolition and ballroom project ‒ including 45% who said they “strongly oppose” it.
Reach Joey Garrison on X @joeygarrison.