Donald Trump reportedly dismissed fire safety warnings from the architect designing his $400 million White House ballroom. He insisted that building regulations simply did not apply to him. The president’s blunt four-word reply — “I am the code” — has reignited scrutiny of a project already facing public backlash and legal challenges.
Donald Trump reportedly clashed with White House Ballroom architect
James McCrery II, the classical architect Donald Trump named lead designer in July 2025, walked away from the job on October 20. It was the same week crews began tearing down the historic East Wing, according to The Washington Post. He had spent weeks warning that the ballroom’s preliminary design fell short of fire safety codes.
McCrery’s specific objections included inadequate emergency exits. Guests could not exit quickly through the main entrance during a crisis, and nothing in the layout stopped a kitchen fire from racing into the event space above. One early plan also squeezed just seven women’s bathroom stalls into a venue built for 650-plus guests.
Trump’s handwritten Sharpie notes on the drawings reveal his priorities. “James. And you think this is big enough,” he scrawled, appearing to mock the architect’s size concerns. On an image of a colonnade, he wrote, “James – great look – but Corinthian columns.”
A White House official rejected the account, calling it “factually false and totally inaccurate” to link McCrery’s exit to code issues. The official praised him as a “valued member of the initial design team” and said life-safety matters were resolved as work progressed. McCrery stayed vague, saying only that he was “truly grateful” and that “having completed the earliest designs, I stepped aside.”
Notably, the Executive Residence, an office built for furniture purchases and routine repairs, not major construction, oversees the ballroom. This means federal building rules do not bind it. Meeting notes from September 2025 flagged “Life safety — big concern,” and a November note read, “Life safety — needs POTUS buy in.”
The Supreme Court let construction continue in August while legal challenges proceed.
