The new chair of the Commission of Fine Arts pressed gently Thursday morning for more details about President Donald Trump’s plans for a big White House ballroom where the East Wing once stood, while generally expressing support for the project.
One of five new Trump appointees to the advisory panel, Georgia-based architect Rodney Mims Cook, Jr. made clear his backing of the project during the commission’s initial public review of what’s formally called the East Wing Modernization Project.
“This is an important thing to the president. It’s an important thing to the nation. We all know it,” Cook said, adding that “the need for this has been around for well over a century.”
While observing that “we need to let the president do his job, and as much as we can keep his mind off of things like this, so that we can keep him rolling,” Cook was also the most persistent questioner during the 45-minute briefing.
