The historic East Wing of the White House is being demolished as part of Donald Trump’s plan to build a $250 million ornate grand ballroom.
Video and images of the teardown started leaking on social media Monday leaving many people aghast.
On Tuesday, Trump, in a White House statement, dismissed any outrage over the 90,000-square-foot ballroom as “manufactured,” and blamed “unhinged leftists” and their “fake news allies” for the pushback.
The shock, however, is likely due to a promise from Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt who said “nothing will be torn down” when the project was first announced this summer.
The East Wing houses multiple offices and is considered the base of operations for the first lady. The White House said that offices would be temporarily relocated during construction for the ballroom for upgrades and renovations to the East Wing.
The timing of the demolition is also raising eyebrows as the government remains shut down, and many federal employees are not getting paid. It also comes after more than 7 million people turned out to “No Kings” rallies across the nation to protest the policies of the Trump administration.
The entire project is being privately funded by Trump as well as “other patriot donors,” according to the president. The White House has not disclosed the donors.
At a luncheon on Tuesday, Trump told Senate Republicans that the construction of the ballroom is “music to his ears” adding that “it reminds me of money.”
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The construction is moving forward despite no formal approval from the National Capital Planning Commission, which generally approves all government buildings in Washington. Typically, major construction of this nature is subjected to environmental impact assessments, design and planning reviews as well as authorization from the Office of Management and Budget.
The White House released a timeline of updates made to the White House since 1902 in an apparent effort to buttress the president’s alleged authority to do whatever he wants during his term.
The East Wing houses multiple offices and is considered the base of operations for the first lady. The White House said that offices would be temporarily relocated during construction and said renovations were planned to the wing.
A presidential historian admitted he was stunned to see the backhoe images on Monday.
“Maybe it’s just the dislike of change on my part, but it seemed painful, almost like slashing a Rembrandt painting,” Douglas Brinkley with the New York Historical Society told WTOP. “Or defacing a Michelangelo’s sculpture.”
The White House said in a briefing that the ballroom should be completed “long before the end of President Trump’s term.” Trump’s term ends in January 2029.
Other updates in Trump’s second term
Trump faced heavy criticism when he chose to pave over Jackie Kennedy’s iconic rose garden earlier this year. Lush green space was replaced by stone tiles, pop-up umbrellas and outdoor tables, similar to the design of his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. Users on reddit overwhelmingly criticized the design saying it looked “awful,” “devoid of life” and “ugly.”
At the inaugural event in the renovated space in early September, Trump launched what he called, the Rose Garden Club, a club “comprised of senators, congresspeople and others in Washington that can bring peace and success to our country.”
Despite the economic woes of many Americans, Trump also completed a gaudy update to the Oval Office with “some of the highest karat gold,” in his own words on Truth Social.
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Crystal Graham
