Construction crews began demolishing part of the East Wing, the part of the White House complex that houses the offices of the first lady, as part of Donald Trump‘s plans for building a $250 million ballroom that will dominate the grounds.
Reporters spotted the demolition work on Monday.
Per The Washington Post, Trump previously said that the new ballroom “won’t interfere with the current building.” But the schematics made clear that the East Wing would be overhauled, taking on more of the scope of the Treasury Department building across the street than the smaller Executive Mansion and West Wing.
The initial plans, unveiled in July, were for a 90,000-square-foot ballroom with a capacity for 650 people, much larger than the East Room, where many presidential administrations have hosted formal functions like state dinners and In Performance at the White House. It can accommodate around 250 people.
But the size of the project has expanded since then, to accommodate about 900 people, with the cost estimated at $250 million. The White House has said that it would be funded through private donations.
“The White House for 150 years plus, they wanted to have a ballroom, and it never happened because they didn’t have a real estate person,” Trump told a dinner of donors to the project last week. Among those present were representatives from Amazon, Apple, Booz Allen Hamilton, Coinbase, Comcast, Google, Lockheed Martin, Meta Platforms and T-Mobile, per the AP.
The East Wing was built in 1902, and a second floor was added in 1942. It has been renovated since then, but it also has served as the typical entrance for visiting guests to White House events, like holiday parties and dinners, connected to the main building by a corridor.
Trump administration officials have said that the new structure will be “almost identical” to the “theme and architectural heritage” of the main White House building, which was initially known as the Executive Mansion.
