The entire East Wing of the White House is being demolished as part of President Trump’s plan to add a massive ballroom to the White House.
The teardown is reportedly expected to be completed by the weekend, but the stunning sight of bulldozers ripping apart the White House's East Wing, combined with the extent and speed of the demolition, has sparked a furious backlash, especially since Trump had said that the ballroom construction project wouldn’t interfere with the existing building.
“It’ll be near it but not touching it,” the president originally said. “And pays total respect to the existing building, which I’m the biggest fan of.”
Trump was asked about the discrepancy Wednesday. “In order to do it properly, we had to take down the existing structure,” he said.
Critics see a perfect metaphor for what Trump is doing to American democracy — and a “let them eat cake” moment from a president seemingly more concerned with the construction of a glitzy ballroom than with a government shutdown hurting federal workers and ordinary Americans.
“Oh you're trying to say the cost of living is skyrocketing? Donald Trump can't hear you over the sound of bulldozers demolishing a wing of the White House to build a new grand ballroom,” Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts said in a post on X this week.
Preservationists, meanwhile, have raised concerns about the demolition and potential loss of historically significant Americana, calling for a pause in the project. They’ve also expressed fear that the planned 90,000-square-foot ballroom will overwhelm the rest of the White House.
“We acknowledge the utility of a larger meeting space at the White House, but we are deeply concerned that the massing and height of the proposed new construction will overwhelm the White House itself—it is 55,000 square feet—and may also permanently disrupt the carefully balanced classical design of the White House with its two smaller, and lower, East and West Wings,” Carol Quillen, president and CEO of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, said in a statement Monday.
The White House Historical Association, a private nonprofit organization, reportedly said that a historic record of the East Wing was created “through a comprehensive digital scanning project and photography” and that artifacts from the East Wing were preserved.
Adding to critics’ concerns, it’s not entirely clear where all the money for the demolition and construction is coming from, though Trump has said that taxpayer money isn’t involved as he and other private donors will cover the costs. “The White House Ballroom is being privately funded by many generous Patriots, Great American Companies, and, yours truly,” Trump wrote in a social media post.
Trump today said that the ballroom project would cost $300 million, which is $100 million more than the cost estimate the White House initially provided at the end of July. The White House has not yet released a comprehensive list of funders, but Trump has touted donations as large as $25 million from companies including Apple, Amazon, Coinbase and Lockheed Martin. Some $22 million for the project comes from YouTube, which is owned by Google, as part of a $24.5 million settlement for a Trump lawsuit against the company.
Ethics experts have warned about conflicts of interest in that funding. Another ethical landmine: Trump is reportedly seeking some $230 million from the Justice Department to settle federal damage claims related to past investigations into him, and he suggested Tuesday that whatever settlement money he may get could go to charity or the ballroom project.
As shockwaves about the East Wing demolition reverberate, the White House has brushed aside what it calls “manufactured outrage” over the demolition. It released a list of presidential renovations to the White House dating back to 1902 and said that Trump’s ballroom is “a bold, necessary addition that echoes the storied history of improvements and additions from commanders-in-chief to keep the executive residence as a beacon of American excellence.”
White House Communications Director Steven Cheung lashed out at those raising the alarm about the demolition. “Losers who are quick to criticize need to stop their pearl clutching and understand the building needs to be modernized,” he posted on X.