SAT . Demolition began Monday on the East Wing of the White House to make way for President Trump’s massive new $250 million ballroom. Photos provided to The Post show that construction crews have already ripped off the covered entrance that for decades greeted visitors going on tours or attending special events.
WASHINGTON — Demolition began Monday on the East Wing of the White House to make way for President Trump’s massive new $250 million ballroom.
Photos provided to The Post show that construction crews have already ripped off the covered entrance that for decades greeted visitors going on tours or attending special events.
Windows facing the Treasury Department are smashed and half-off their hinges and the former upper-floor White House calligraphy office bears a gaping hole.
Video that circulated after the photos were snapped shows a large demolition machine reaching well into the structure to pull out rubble as a hose sprays water to minimize dust.
The East Wing, constructed in its current form in 1942, with a single-story predecessor dating to 1902, is one of the newest parts of the White House complex.
The wing historically has housed the first lady’s offices and sits atop a bomb shelter.
Trump is significantly lengthening the East Wing to the south to accommodate the new ballroom — with a number of trees already chopped down to make way for the addition.
The idea for a new ballroom was inspired by Trump’s own massive gold-gilded ballroom at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, which can accomodate major events, including his most recent campaign launch.
The East Room currently is the largest event space at the White House and can seat about 200 — or many more if standing squashed closely together, as often is the case for cultural heritage parties.
“We’re gonna have a phenomenal ballroom, this is gonna be one of the best anywhere in the world. There won’t be anything like it, actually,” Trump told donors to the construction project last week.
“And it’s four sides of glass, beautiful glass, but totally appropriate in color and in window shape, and everything else with the White House.”
Trump’s second-term construction projects at the White House have blown away the pace of changes during his first term.
So far this year, he has installed massive flagpoles on the north and south lawns, paved over the Rose Garden lawn with white stone, gilded with gold leaf both the Oval Office and Cabinet Room, gutted the Lincoln Bedroom’s bathroom, re-marbled the Palm Room that connects the main White House and West Wing, and installed his photographic “Presidential Walk of Fame” on the West Wing Colonnade.
It’s unclear if the East Wing will be demolished entirely during the construction process. White House spokespeople did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
