Photos depicting the recently-demolished East Wing of the White House confirm that construction for President Donald Trump’s new ballroom is far more dramatic than the president previously anticipated.
The pictures, taken from the roof of the Treasury building across the street and on the ground, show mountains of destroyed drywall, windows, insulation, wires, dirt and other debris piled on the White House lawn where construction crews recently took down the entire East Wing and colonnade.
It was a shocking sight for some, given the president initially said his ballroom would not “interfere” with the current state of the White House and that it would pay “total respect to the existing building.”
Now, after reports indicated the entire East Wing was being demolished, Trump has changed his tune, saying the East Wing “was never thought of as being much.”
The cost, originally projected to be around $200 million, has now been upgraded to $300 million.
Trump’s new ballroom was subject to controversy when he first announced the plan in July.
While past presidents have left their mark on the White House with minor upgrades or redecorations, the last time significant construction occurred was in the mid-1940s to early 1950s under former President Harry S. Truman, according to the White House Historical Association. Those changes were largely to fix ongoing structural issues.
But Trump’s ballroom, anticipated to be 90,000-square-foot in size, is less of a necessity and more of a desire.
The president justified the decision, saying the White House was in need of hosting space and that the new building could be used for years to come.
But controversy over the matter escalated this week when news reports revealed the extent of the destruction to the East Wing – which was previously unknown to the public.
Hillary Clinton criticized the president’s decision writing on X, “It’s not his house. It’s your house. And he’s destroying it.”
“This breaks my heart and it infuriates me,” Maria Shriver, the former first lady of California and a descent of the Kennedys wrote on X. “Hundreds of millions of dollars to build a new ballroom. Good god.”
Under the National Historic Preservation Act, federal agencies are required to provide an advisory counsel with plans on projects involving historic properties. But there is a loophole exempting the White House. Despite that, many past presidents have voluntarily submitted their plans to the National Capital Planning Commission, the body that reviews projects in the nation’s capital.
The National Trust of Historic Preservation, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving historic sites, urged the adminsiration to pause construction and allow the National Capital Planning Commission, as well as others, to review and comment on the new ballroom plans.
Democratic Representative Jamie Raskin of Maryland also criticized Trump’s renovations, accusing him of “bypassing the public and historical review process and denying the people and our representatives the chance to vote on his Marie Antoinette ballroom.”
California Governor Gavin Newsom accused the president of “Ripping apart the White House just like he's ripping apart the Constitution.”
“This is Trump’s presidency in a single photo: Illegal, destructive, and not helping you,” Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren said.
When faced with questions about the construction Thursday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt urged people to “trust the process” and defended the administration’s transparency on the project.
“With any construction project, changes come,” Leavitt said, adding that the team overseeing the project determined it would be more structurally stable to take down the entire East Wing rather than build an addition.
“We have informed all of you, we’ve been keeping you apprised of this project we’ve shown you the renderings and if you look at the renderings its very clear the East Wing was going to be modernized. In fact, I said that tin the briefing when we initially introduced this plan to all of you and the public,” Leavitt added.
The East Wing, originally called the East Terrace, was built in 1902 under former President Theodore Roosevelt. It was rebuilt in 1942 primarily to conceal an underground bunker under former President Franklin D. Roosevelt and became a staple of the White House.
The wing was used by the First Lady and her staff and housed several other White House staff offices.
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If Trump’s East Wing demo shocks you, check out what he did to these priceless works
