Demolition of the entire White House East Wing is underway to make room for Trump’s 90,000 square foot ballroom in a departure from prior president’s changes
The scale, speed and lack of transparency we’re seeing from President Donald Trump’s determination to build a 90,000-square foot ballroom makes it by far the most absurd — and potentially unethical — “renovation” project any president has undertaken.
Former officials and historical experts were appalled at the images of demolition equipment ripping through the White House’s East Wing were first published by The Monday. The outcry only grew Tuesday as the rapid renovation spread further, not merely taking down the facade outside the East Wing but tearing haphazardly into the building. A White House official confirmed Wednesday that the plan is now to raze the whole structure rather than tagging on the ballroom as an addition.
The White House’s press team posted a thread on X, formerly known as Twitter, to claim that the destruction was merely a continuation of a process that presidents have undertaken for more than a century. It’s true that there have been several major overhauls to the Executive Mansion in that time, many of which drew consternation over their scope, their disregard for history or their expense. But the project Trump has undertaken is on another level entirely.Given his past as a real estate developer, his obsession with size and grandeur and his questionable taste in internal decor, Trump’s vision for a White House ballroom comes as little surprise.
Given his past as a real estate developer, his obsession with size and grandeur and his questionable taste in internal decor, Trump’s vision for a White House ballroom comes as little surprise. During the initial announcement in July, he claimed that the addition “won’t interfere with the current building. It won’t be. It’ll be near it but not touching it — and pays total respect to the existing building, which I’m the biggest fan of. It’s my favorite. It’s my favorite place. I love it.” (Trump reportedly calling the White House “a dump” during his first term, which he has denied, and spending a big chunk of his second term staying at the properties he owns, doesn’t exactly support the idea it’s his “favorite place.”)
In his Truth Social post Monday announcing that the project was underway, the president hedged a bit more on that initial promise: “Completely separate from the White House itself, the East Wing is being fully modernized as part of this process.” While the East and West Wings are later additions to the core Executive Mansion, each of which caused its own major concerns when first built, trying to say that either is “separate” from the White House is a major stretch.
