Copyright Norfolk Virginian-Pilot
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is demolishing the entire East Wing of the White House to build a ballroom at the property, he said Wednesday, in a move exceeding the original scope of the project and prompting controversy over the extent of the construction. Trump told reporters he had undertaken “really a tremendous amount of study with some of the best architects in the world” and determined that knocking down the East Wing was the best course of action. The existing structure, he said, could “hurt” his planned ballroom. “In order to do it properly, we had to take down the existing structure,” Trump said. Trump unveiled his ballroom plans over the summer, after long complaining about wanting a larger room for entertaining at the White House. Originally, the president said the work on the White House grounds would not “interfere with the current building” and that the project’s plans paid “total respect” to the existing structure’s architectural style. He also pegged the total cost at around $200 million. On Wednesday, Trump said the price had risen to $300 million but would be paid entirely by “me and some friends,” including donors. A senior White House official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, earlier Wednesday described the project as a modernization effort and said the demolition should be concluded in the coming days. The official said that plans change and that there were structural and security reasons for the teardown. Trump said that the military was “very much involved” in the effort, in what appeared to be an allusion to the security concerns. The demolition work has drawn criticism after photos of the East Wing being torn down circulated earlier this week. The National Trust for Historic Preservation, in a letter Tuesday, urged the administration to “pause demolition until plans for the proposed ballroom go through the legally required public review processes” and expressed concern that the size of the “proposed new construction will overwhelm the White House itself.” Trump dismissed questions about how transparent he had been regarding the project. “It’s gotten really great reviews. I think we’ve been more transparent than anybody’s ever been,” Trump said in the Oval Office. Trump’s ballroom plan outlined the construction of a 90,000-square-foot space with a seating capacity of 650 people — though the president earlier this week said that the finished project would hold 999 people. The lead architect for the project is D.C.-based McCrery Architects, while Clark Construction will head the construction team and AECOM the engineering team, according to the White House. The U.S. Secret Service will handle necessary security enhancements. The inclusion of private donors for a project on the White House grounds has drawn questions about potential conflicts of interest for a president who has also regularly mixed personal business with official duties. Last week, Trump hosted billionaires and corporate executives at the White House to highlight the endeavor, with Blackstone Inc.’s Steve Schwarzman, Continental Resources Inc.’s Harold Hamm and crypto billionaires Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss in attendance. ___ ©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Visit bloomberg.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
