WASHINGTON DC -- Approval for President Donald Trump’s massive East Wing ballroom project – from a government commission that oversees planning for federal buildings and land in the nation’s capital – is delayed after it received over 32,000 comments from the public overwhelmingly opposing the construction.

The National Capital Planning Commission was expected to take a final vote to approve plans for the ballroom on Thursday, marking the latest clearance for the project in a process that has been on a fast track since Trump suddenly demolished the East Wing last October. But the commission announced Thursday that the vote was postponed to April 2 “given the large amount of public input on the project.”

“We’re going to take the time to deliberate, and we’re going to have a final vote on April 2,” NCPC chairman and Trump aide Will Scharf said as the meeting began.

Some 9,000 pages of public comments to the NCPC released ahead of the meeting detailed major objections from Americans who expressed concerns about the project’s size and scope, cost and destruction of history, among other complaints.

According to a CNN analysis using AI and human verification, more than 97% of the public feedback was against the construction, with the most scathing criticisms likening the proposed ballroom’s aesthetic to a “brothel” or “Vegas casino.”

Objections centering around the “Trumpification” of the White House and fears that the ballroom represented “authoritarian self-aggrandizement” were a common theme among the tens of thousands of comments urging the commission to reject the plan. The much smaller number of comments in support of the construction cited the need for a larger and more modern space as reason for backing it.

Since returning to office, the president has stacked the 12-member commission with loyalists, and earlier this week, the NCPC executive director published a recommendation to “(approve) the preliminary and final site and building plans for the East Wing Modernization Project located on the grounds of the White House,” all but guaranteeing that the project will move forward.

That expected approval would come weeks after the Commission of Fine Arts, another federal agency where Trump installed political allies, voted to approve the design and days after a federal judge rejected the nation’s top historic preservation group’s attempt to block it.

Eventual approval by the NCPC would mean that any further attempt to halt construction would require intervention from the courts.

The most serious legal challenge comes from a case brought by historical preservationists, who argue that Trump needs congressional approval to carry out the construction. And there are already questions about the validity of the upcoming NCPC vote.

The remarkable speed with which the multi-million-dollar project has progressed has underscored an emboldened Trump’s personal interest in unveiling a finished ballroom before the end of his second term, part of a broader effort to remake the White House and Washington to suit his style and taste.

The former real estate developer has been intimately involved in the plans – even referencing it at length, unprompted, this week at a Medal of Honor ceremony that marked his first public comments after launching war with Iran. Administration officials have previously said that above-ground construction will begin as soon as next month.

‘Gaudy’ and ‘vulgar’: Public comments reveal serious misgivings

Part of the NCPC’s review process requires a public comment period, and more than 32,000 people wrote in from around the country with digital or handwritten notes to express their opinions. These comments revealed deep unease and astonishment about Trump’s ballroom plans.

Again and again, harsh terms like “gaudy,” “garish,” “ostentatious,” “glitzy,” “obscene,” “hideous,” “disgusting,” “vulgar,” “cheap,” “low class” and a “soulless hotel conference space” showed up in the feedback.

There were many concerns about how the plans run counter to what America’s founders had envisioned for a humble, modest White House.

A commenter who identified herself as a longtime Washington, DC-area resident, warned that Trump’s ballroom would be a “replica of his ‘gold plated lifestyle.’”

The scale of the new addition “not only demeans the building’s balance but also creates an imbalance in the presentation of what America is about, undermining principles of equality and humility established by the founding fathers,” a commenter said. Another described the plans as “more reminiscent of a monarchical folly than a genuine conception of The People’s House.”

Many people with relevant expertise – architects, historians and preservationists – wrote in with concerns.

Kate Schwennsen, former national president of the American Institute of Architects, said: “If any of my previous students had submitted the proposed Ballroom addition to the White House as currently designed, I would have given them a failing grade.”

Schwennsen, who is the former director of the Clemson University School of Architecture, outlined issues with the project’s scale as “inappropriate for its context and site.”

CNN used artificial intelligence to evaluate the submitted comments and categorize whether each supported or objected to the East Wing ballroom project by identifying explicit sentiments expressed by the writers. Ambiguous or neutral comments were evaluated as unclear.

While AI may generate some errors, reporters manually checked a random sample of 2% of the results – over 640 comments – and found that the AI classification was 99% accurate for that sample.

Many commenters urged the commission to require Trump to rebuild the East Wing to the same dimensions it was before the demolition, or encouraged action against the Trump administration for destroying the East Wing, though the NCPC has repeatedly said it does not have authority over demolitions.

More than 8,000 comments included a suggested form statement that had spread on social media: “I oppose the spending of $300 million on this project, which was initiated without the proper authorization, permits, or design review.”

Asked for comment on the breadth of public opposition to the project, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt lambasted what she described as “Trump deranged liberals” lacking taste.

“These nasty comments are clearly stemming from an organized campaign of Trump deranged liberals who clearly have no style or taste. It’s a shame that some people in this country are so debilitated with Trump Derangement Syndrome, they can’t even recognize or respect beauty when they see it,” Leavitt said in a statement to CNN, going on to describe the planned ballroom as “extraordinary” and emphasizing that it is being privately funded.

Legal challenges ahead

Following the Commission of Fine Arts’ February approval and NCPC’s expected eventual green light, the only potential remaining roadblocks for the project would be through litigation.

The Trump administration notched a temporary win last week after a lawsuit from the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s attempting to block ballroom construction was rejected. US District Judge Richard Leon’s ruled that the Trust’s choice to use the Administrative Procedure Act to challenge the project was not the appropriate argument for the suit.

The Trust filed a new lawsuit this week, now arguing that the administration is violating the separation of powers by proceeding with the project without Congressional authorization.

Separately, Public Citizen, a watchdog group, is questioning the validity of the upcoming NCPC vote. In a new report, the group alleges that Trump’s installation of a trio of top allies to the commission – staff secretary Will Scharf as chair, Office of Management and Budget associate director Stuart Levenbach as vice-chair, and deputy chief of staff James Blair as a commissioner, violates the law. The three White House staffers, the report says, “fail to have any of the ‘experience in city or regional planning’ the law requires appointees to have.”

Thursday’s NCPC meeting is likely to be a lengthy one, and though it begins at 10:00 a.m. EST, discussions about the ballroom aren’t expected to begin until at least 1:00 p.m. EST.

More than 100 people are registered to speak about the ballroom plans, including National Trust for Historic Preservation president and CEO Carol Quillen, historic preservationist and former NCPC member Bryan Clark Green, and DC Preservation League executive director Rebecca Miller.

The commission normally meets in-person, but Thursday’s events will be online-only, which, it says, is “due to the anticipated agenda length.” Protesters assembled outside the NCPC’s most recent meetings and are expected to gather again on Thursday.

The commission said in a press release that more information on plans for the vote would be announced during Thursday’s meeting.

CNN’s Devan Cole contributed to this report.

This story has been updated with additional information.

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