The Washington Post obtained early ballroom designs for a project involving Donald Trump.
Posted by The Briefing with Jen Psaki, Checked
- Sources
- 4 support1 context
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 70%
The Briefing with Jen PsakiSep 24, 2026
The Washington Post reported on September 23, 2026 that it obtained early White House ballroom designs with Trump's handwritten Sharpie markups, and several outlets reprinted or summarized that reporting. The claim matches the passage, which refers to the same Post report. Coverage traces back to the Post itself, so confidence is capped.
What was said
… Congressman Jamie Raskin joins me here at the table when we come back. A new report today is shedding even more light on just how weirdly fixated Trump has been on his pet vanity projects. These are images, I'm going to show them, there you go, right there, of early ballroom designs obtained by The Washington Post. You can see someone has marked them all up using a black Sharpie, Trump's favorite writing tool, I would note. The Sharpie markups include notes on adding a handrail, the depth of the placement of columns, the number of doors to an entrance. …
The Briefing with Jen Psaki · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Supports. Raw Story reports that the Washington Post reported on Wednesday (September 23, 2026) that it obtained early ballroom designs and documents, including preliminary drawings with handwritten notes that appeared to come from Trump.[2]
Supports. The Washington Post's own article, reprinted by Finance & Commerce on September 23, 2026, describes the early ballroom designs and the architect's safety concerns based on documents the Post reviewed.[3]
Supports. Mediaite and The Daily Beast, both dated September 23, 2026, attribute the early ballroom designs and markups to the Washington Post's reporting on documents it obtained.[4][5]
Context. Reuters (October 15, 2026) reports a later Washington Post report on private donations to the ballroom, which is a separate story from the early designs.[1]
Sources
5 sources: 1 fact-checker, 1 tier 3, 3 not rated
- 1Nvidia, Apple each gave $25 million for Trump's ballroom, Washington Post reportsreuters.com · fact-checker · cited for: context
- 2Trump drew around 'life safety' concerns in ballroom plans with trademark Sharpie: reportrawstory.com · tier 3 · cited for: supports
- 3Ballroom architect raised building safety code concernsfinance-commerce.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 4Trump’s Deranged Secret Ballroom Orders Are Leakedthedailybeast.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 5Trump Reportedly Blew Off Safety Codes in White House Ballroom Construction: ‘I Am the Code'mediaite.com · not rated · cited for: supports
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post