Trump’s new ballroom architect, Shalom Baranes, is a self-described “refugee” who publicly challenged the president on immigration

The news that Donald Trump has hired a new architect for his controversial and ever-expanding White House ballroom project, squeezing out former Punch List headliner James McCrery II, likely came as no surprise to anyone familiar with the president’s track record in dealing with design professionals, some of whom claim he still owes them money. 

What might turn a few heads are these details: The new architect in question, Shalom Baranes, is a self-described refugee who was born in Italy to Jewish parents who had fled Libya, and who arrived in New York with his family at age six. During Trump’s first term, Baranes published an op-ed in the Washington Post that delicately, but unmistakably, challenged the administration’s policies on immigration, taking aim at the Muslim travel ban in particular.