Claim:
A photograph authentically showed the White House after former U.S. President Barack Obama “wrecked” it to add an indoor basketball court.
Rating:
In October 2025, as the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump defended the partial demolition of the White House’s East Wing to make way for Trump’s planned ballroom, a photograph circulated alongside a claim (archived) that it was proof former U.S. President Barack Obama “wrecked” the White House to add a basketball court.
The claim circulated alongside a black-and-white photograph that appeared to show extensive demolition or construction at the White House.
One Facebook user who posted the photo wrote:
This is an absolute horrible tragedy to the white house. Literally tearing down a section to — Oh,but wait this picture is when Obama wrecked the wh to put up an indoor basketball court. Using TAX PAYER MONEY
Democrats your hypocrisy is astounding 🤡
The photo and claim also circulated on X (archived), Instagram (archived), Threads (archived) and Bluesky (archived). Snopes readers wrote in asking whether the claim was true.
Obama, who has long been a keen basketball player, did adapt an outdoor tennis court at the White House to also serve as a basketball court during his administration, adding hoops and lines. This conversion did not require extensive construction.
The origin of the photo that circulated alongside the claim was unclear at the time of this writing. Based on similar photographs from the Library of Congress, it appeared to show construction at the White House’s West Wing in 1934, during the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt. The image circulated online as far back as 2010, when one poster (archived) claimed it showed West Wing renovations in 1934.
Given the above, we found that social media users had miscaptioned the photograph that they said showed construction at the White House during the Obama administration.
We reached out to the Library of Congress, the FDR Presidential Library and Museum, the White House Historical Association and several picture agencies to establish the origin of the photo that circulated alongside the claim and await replies to our queries.
Aside from adapting a tennis court and refurbishing the Oval Office, the Obama administration, specifically first lady Michelle Obama, planted the White House Kitchen Garden. We found no evidence the administration undertook any large-scale construction projects of the magnitude seen in the miscaptioned photograph.
The construction of Trump’s ballroom continued despite the 2025 U.S. government shutdown because the project was privately funded, according to officials. Snopes previously verified that Trump said the new ballroom “won’t interfere” with the existing building.
Sources
Gibbens, Sarah and National Journal. “President Obama’s Love for Basketball in Photos.” The Atlantic, 30 Oct. 2015, https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/10/president-obamas-love-for-basketball-in-photos/447954/.
Green, Penelope. “The Audacity of Taupe.” The New York Times, 1 Sep. 2010, https://archive.ph/75H4D.
Harris & Ewing. [Construction, White House, Washington, D.C.]. Still image. 1934, https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2016880139/.
———. [Construction, White House, Washington, D.C.]. Still image. 1934, https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2016880140/.
[Outdoor View of Construction of the West Wing of The White House]. Still image. 1934, https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/00653401/.
“The Basketball Court.” The White House, https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/node/19042. Accessed 23 Oct. 2025.
“White House Ballroom Continues Proud Presidential Legacy.” The White House, 21 Oct. 2025, https://www.whitehouse.gov/articles/2025/10/white-house-ballroom-proud-presidential-legacy/.
White House Kitchen Garden (U.S. National Park Service). https://www.nps.gov/places/000/white-house-kitchen-garden.htm. Accessed 23 Oct. 2025.
