Unraveling claims about $376M White House renovation under Obama

In late October 2025, as Republican U.S. President Donald Trump faced backlash for demolishing part of the White House to build a multimillion-dollar ballroom, some social media users claimed a $376 million White House renovation project took place under Democratic former President Barack Obama.

The claims differed in their wording. Some people, including conservative political activist Christian Collins, claimed (archived) the White House underwent the costly renovation during the Obama administration, citing a 2010 CNN report. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, amplified Collins’ claim on X (archived), and similar claims spread across Instagram, Threads and Facebook (archived here, here and here).

Other social media users alleged (archived here and here) that Obama personally spent $370 million in taxpayer money on the renovation project.

Multiple Snopes users searched our website for information about White House renovations under Obama.

The renovations under Obama did take place: Both CNN and Bloomberg News reported in 2010 about a four-year, $376 million White House renovation project beginning during his presidency.

However, many social media posts omitted key context: Congress approved the funding in 2008 following a report by the administration of then-President George W. Bush, and the renovations aimed to upgrade the building’s aging infrastructure, according to the news reports. 

It’s misleading to suggest Obama personally “spent” $370 million on White House renovations, as some posts claimed, as Congress approved the project’s funding during Bush’s time in office.

What Bloomberg News and CNN reported

A Bloomberg News report published in The Philadelphia Inquirer on May 22, 2010, noted that a four-year, $376 million White House renovation project had begun, stating that its purpose was to “improve the infrastructure in the East and West Wings.”

According to the report, workers would be “replacing decades-old heating, cooling, electrical, and fire-alarm equipment,” as well as “unspecified security systems.”

(The Philadelphia Inquirer via Newspapers.com)

CNN reported in a Sept. 10, 2010, segment that Congress approved funding for the renovations in 2008 — before Obama took office — “after a Bush administration report revealed some systems in the White House were periodically failing.”

More specifically, some of the White House system’s were “deemed to be approaching the end of their ‘reliable productivity,'” Bloomberg News reported.

“There have been some service interruptions,” Bob Peck, who served as public buildings commissioner of the General Services Administration, which manages federal facilities, told Bloomberg News. 

The CNN report also included footage of the White House undergoing construction.

Then-CNN correspondent Suzanne Malveaux questioned Peck about the $376 million expenditure during a time of economic hardship for many Americans. 

In response, Peck said, in part, “It doesn’t do a whole lot of good to have the building that’s sort of the image of the free world standing up there and not functioning well.” He added that digging underground and doing this type of utility work was a “costly project.”

Comparison to Trump ballroom project

While CNN reported that taxpayer dollars funded the Obama-era renovations, the Trump administration said private donors were footing the bill for the ballroom project. 

Unlike the earlier renovations during the Obama administration focused on concerns about aging infrastructure, Trump’s ballroom project was promoted as adding a “large event space” because the White House was purportedly “unable to host major functions … without having to install a large and unsightly tent approximately 100 yards away from the main building entrance.”

During his presidency, Obama did adapt an outdoor tennis court at the White House to also serve as a basketball court, adding hoops and lines. This conversion did not require extensive construction. Snopes reached out to the Obama Foundation for comments on the renovations and comparisons to Trump’s ballroom project, and will update this story if we receive a response. 

For further reading, we fact-checked a photo that falsely claimed to show the White House after Obama “wrecked” it to add a basketball court.