Trump’s executive assistant, 26, joins panel to oversee $400M ballroom renovation

President Donald Trump’s 26-year-old executive assistant will be sworn in on Thursday to the Commission of Fine Arts, a panel overseeing Trump’s now $400 million ballroom project.

Chamberlain Harris is just the latest appointee to the panel, which Trump completely gutted after firing all members last October. In January, he hired seven members to the commission.

Harris graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from State University of New York, according to her White House bio. She served in the first Trump administration as the Deputy Director of Oval Office Operations at the White House. After that, she went on to manage President Trump’s Presidential Portrait Project for the Office of the 45th President. She worked in conjunction with the National Portrait Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution and the White House Historical Association.

Work continues on the construction of the ballroom at the White House, Tuesday, Dec., 9, 2025, in Washington, where the East Wing once stood. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

“Chamberlain Harris has spent several years as a loyal, trusted, and highly respected advisor to President Trump,” White House Communications Director Steven Cheung said in a statement to the National News Desk.

“She understands the President’s vision and appreciation of the arts like very few others, and brings a unique perspective that will serve the Commission well. She will be a tremendous asset to the Commission of Fine Arts and continue to honorably serve our country well.”

She joins the panel, led by White House Staff Secretary Will Scharf, and includes Mary Anne Carter, chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts; conservative writer Roger Kimball; former HUD deputy secretary Pamela Hughes Patenaude; and Matthew Taylor, a filmmaker and sculptor. James C. McCrery, the ballroom project’s original architect, was also named to the board in January.