The White House has started demolishing the East Wing for US President Donald Trump’s $250 million ballroom.
According to Associated Press, the White House on Monday, October 20, began tearing down part of the traditional base of operations for the first lady, for the ballroom, without proper approval.
The demolition will affect the historic entrance used by visitors during special events or tours and the White House’s calligraphy office to begin the construction of the controversial ballroom.
The Republican president confirmed the demolition work while meeting the NCAA and NAIA baseball championship teams from Louisiana State University and the Shreveport, Louisiana, satellite campus.
The 79-year-old announced that the construction of the ballroom that would be “a lot of fun” has “started today.”
“You know, we're building right behind us. We're building a ballroom. They've wanted a ballroom for 150 years, and I'm giving that honour to this wonderful place… We have a lot of construction going on, which you might hear periodically,” the American president added.
It is worth noting that the demolition of the decades-old East Wing appeared to be against Trump’s promise that the ballroom would not “interfere” with the existing White House building.
However, the White House justified the move by saying that the East Wing “has been renovated and changed many times,” including the 1942 renovation.
The demolition sparked controversy and criticism on social media, as legal writer Marcy Wheeler compared it with the damage done by British troops under the command of Major General Robert Ross.
She wrote on X, “First Trump's mob attacked the Capitol for the first time since 1812. And now Trump is doing more damage to the White House than the British did in 1814.”
The East Wing of the White House, home of the US president for two centuries, was constructed in 1902 and was last renovated in 1942.
