John Fetterman

However, the $400 million plan from Trump has received pushback, Axios reports, from preservationists and some Democrats, who have called it a “vanity project backed by secretive donors seeking favor with the president.”

While Fetterman has now formally endorsed building the White House ballroom, it’s not the first time he’s publicly addressed Trump’s plan.

In an interview with Fox News in August 2025, Fetterman said that he didn’t have a “strong opinion” on expanding the ballroom and how it should be paid for.

“I think everything that I’ve seen, the plans are going to be done in a tasteful and historical kind of a way,” Fetterman said in August. “I mean, they’re not putting in a Dave and Busters kind of a situation here.”

“So, I think upgrading some of these facilities seems pretty normal,” he continued. “Overall, I don’t have a strong opinion on it, but it’s not a point where I’m going to freak out or make some kind of weird demandings, or have a hearing on it.”

At least one Pennsylvania Democrat is publicly expressing his disagreement with Fetterman’s comments, specifically taking issue with his reference of those opposing it as having “TDS.”

State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta, who also serves as a vice chair of the Democratic National Committee, called Fetterman “a mess” on Sunday.

“Almost every day now my US Senator comes on this site to attack his constituents and many people who worked hard to elect him. Suggesting that they have “derangement syndrome” for opposing this administration. You’re a mess @JohnFetterman,” Kenyatta wrote on social media.