White House to demolish entire east wing for $300M ballroom project
The Trump administration now confirms that the entire east wing of the White House will be demolished within days to make room for a new 90,000-square-foot ballroom.
(NBC)- The Trump administration now confirms that the entire east wing of the White House will be demolished within days to make room for a new 90,000-square-foot ballroom, according to two senior officials. The ballroom, which President Donald Trump says will be paid for by himself and private donors — including Comcast, NBC’s parent company — is expected to cost around $300 million.
“This is a plan that gives us a proper space to honor foreign leaders,” Trump said while unveiling interior renderings of the massive structure. “I think there’ll be nothing like it.”
Trump called the project the “biggest change” to the White House in its history, adding that “many presidents have made changes, but this was something they wanted for at least 150 years.”
However, the plan is drawing strong backlash from historians, preservationists, and some lawmakers. The National Trust for Historic Preservation, a nonprofit created by Congress to safeguard historic sites, issued a letter warning that the new ballroom will “overwhelm the White House itself,” which currently totals only about 55,000 square feet.
That criticism comes despite Trump’s own earlier assurances. On July 31, he told reporters, “It won’t interfere with the current building. It’ll be near it, but not touching it, and pays total respect to the existing building.”
A White House spokesperson now says “the scope and size of the ballroom project have always been subject to vary as the process develops.”
Democrats quickly denounced the project. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D–Conn.) called it “his personal whim,” adding, “It is sort of emblematic of the authoritarian, tyrannical approach that this president takes to power.”
At least one Republican senator voiced concern over the timing. “We’re talking about building a ballroom when we’re trying to get the economy squared away,” said Sen. Thom Tillis (R–N.C.). “The timing’s bad.”
But others in the GOP dismissed the outrage as politically motivated. Sen. Josh Hawley (R–Mo.) said, “These are the same people who tore down every statue they could get their hands on. Now all of a sudden they’re like, ‘Oh, the facade of the east wing is iconic.’ Oh, give me a break.”
White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt echoed that sentiment, saying, “I believe there’s a lot of fake outrage right now, because nearly every single president who has lived in this beautiful White House has made modernizations and renovations of their own.”
