‘I am the code’: Trump clashed with ballroom architect over safety issues; The Washington Post, September 23, 2026

Sarah Blaskey

 and 

Jonathan O'Connell

, The Washington Post, ‘I am the code’: Trump clashed with ballroom architect over safety issues

"In the weeks leading up to his resignation last year, the first architect on the White House ballroom clashed with President Donald Trump over design features that the architect believed violated building safety codes, according to two people with knowledge of the discussions and corroborating documents reviewed by The Washington Post.

James McCrery II withdrew from the project last October after warning repeatedly that Trump was insisting on a preliminary design that did not provide adequate emergency exit routes or fire-containment measures, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the private discussions.

Trump brushed off McCrery’s concerns, they said, and the president countered that no building codes apply to White House construction.

“I am the code,” Trump said.

That episode, as described by the people familiar with the matter, offers new insight into Trump’s priorities for the ballroom at a time when he is flexing executive power to fast-track construction projects across the nation’s capital. The interviews and documents obtained by The Post — including early ballroom designs and images Trump appeared to havemarked up with his trademark black-ink Sharpie — also show how deeply involved the president has been in the details of the project."