A White House ballroom suitable for state visits and other occasions is a longtime Trump hobby horse that reemerged Sunday, the last full day of campaigning before the Iowa caucuses. White House rejects Donald Trump's offer to build $100 million ballroom 
 
 Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump smiles as he speaks during a campaign event at the Orpheum Theatre in Sioux City, Iowa, Sunday, Jan. 31, 2016. “We’ll get the top people, the top everything, we’ll have the best ballroom. We’ll have the best ballroom, because I notice they always put tents up on the lawn. Number one, it’s not a good security thing. Number two, the guy that owns the tents is making a fortune,” he said. Trump said he once called David Axelrod, a former senior adviser to President Obama, offering to build a ballroom worth “at least $100 million” for free. “He did offer to build one,” Axelrod confirmed to TIME in an email. “I don’t recall him saying he would pay for it. I passed his offer along to the social secretary.” 
 
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 This was not the first time Trump had made a new addition to the White House an issue in connection with his own presidential run. (Photo: Patrick Semansky, AP) 
 
 WASHINGTON — The White House confirmed Monday that Donald Trump had offered to spend $100 million on a new White House ballroom, but said the offer was quickly rejected.
– The Obama administration said Monday it had turned down Donald Trump's offer to pay for a new $100 million White House ballroom, USA Today reports. "I'm (not) sure it would be appropriate to have a shiny gold 'Trump' sign on any part of the White House," says Press Secretary Josh Earnest. "That's what most of the buildings that he offers to build include." For his part, Trump said at a rally in Sioux City that a ballroom would be better than tents on the lawn for visiting dignitaries. "No. 1, it’s not a good security thing. No 2, the guy that owns the tents is making a fortune," he says. Trump had suggested the ballroom idea before but never heard back from the White House. "He did offer to build one," David Axelrod tells Time. "I passed his offer along to the social secretary."