The ballroom is just one of Trump’s controversial plans to reshape Washington’s landscape.
A federal panel gave preliminary approval on Thursday for his 250ft (76m) victory arch in the nation’s capital, even as members of the public and preservationist groups gave overwhelmingly negative feedback.
Still, the Commission of Fine Arts, a panel made up of Trump allies, voted to move forward with the plans, with some tweaks.
The White House unveiled the plans for the gold-accented giant victory arch, dubbed the “Arc de Trump”, last week.
The giant monument, if given final approval, would be taller than the US Capitol building and the Lincoln Memorial, and would feature a golden Lady Liberty-like statue with a torch and crown.
US taxpayers will help fund the project, according to a publicly available spending plan for the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) released by the White House.
The NEH will dedicate $2m (£1.5m) in special funds and $13m in matching funds to the project, it says.
Trump has previously said that since his ballroom project was “fully financed”, some of the leftover money would be used to fund the arch.
