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Politics|From the Roosevelts to the Kennedys: A Look at the White House East Wing Trump Is Demolishing https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/22/us/politics/east-wing-white-house.html Advertisement SKIP ADVERTISEMENT You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load. From the Roosevelts to the Kennedys: A Look at the White House East Wing Trump Is Demolishing The East Wing has been a base for the first lady, an entryway for social functions and an emergency bunker. Oct. 22, 2025, 10:39 p.m. ET The East Wing of the White House, which will be torn down by this weekend to make way for President Trump’s new ballroom, has been a formal entryway, the site of social functions and a base for the first lady since Eleanor Roosevelt’s time. The two-story wing, whose demolition has provoked outrage and alarmed historians and architects, was built under President Theodore Roosevelt in 1902, when it was called the East Terrace, and then rebuilt during Franklin D. Roosevelt’s presidency to conceal a new underground emergency bunker. It also housed additional White House staff and offices and provided an entrance for guests during events. The East Wing also included the president’s theater, a covered walkway called the East Colonnade that connects to the main residence, and the Jacqueline Kennedy Garden, which sits just south of the colonnade. The garden, sometimes referred to as the East Garden or the First Lady’s Garden, served as a location for outdoor receptions. Directly below the East Wing lies the Presidential Emergency Operations Center, a bombproof underground bunker for the president that was built during World War II at the same time as the modern East Wing. It was unclear whether the ballroom construction would affect the bunker. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber? Log in. Want all of The Times? Subscribe. Related Content Advertisement SKIP ADVERTISEMENT
