An affliction that has plagued presidents for more than a century how to stage large state events without using short-term tents now finds solution in a revolutionary, record-breaking expansion: the White House soon will add a 90,

Construction will begin next month on a $200 million, 90,000-square-foot ballroom, his press secretary announced Thursday, fulfilling a 15-year ambition by the president to construct an event space on the White House grounds that expands the building’s entertaining capacity — but also resembles the gilded spaces of his private clubs.