Trump Destroys East Wing for Vanity Ballroom Project

New images released recently show that the entire White House East Wing has been demolished to make way for what President Donald Trump has described as a $300 million ballroom, Alexandra Hutzler and Isabella Murray reported for ABC News.

Jarring images of the construction have prompted backlash and questions. [Photo: Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), Historic American Engineering Record (HAER)]

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt defended the demolition as she faced questions from reporters. Trump initially said in July that the project would not interfere with the existing White House structure.

But this week, as crews began razing the East Wing, an official said the “entirety of the East Wing will be modernized” as part of the construction of a massive 90,000-square-foot ballroom.

By Thursday, satellite images from Planet Labs PBC showed the East Wing reduced to rubble.

“This is the People’s House. Why not inform the public of that change, and when it was decided that the East Wing would have to be demolished?” ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Mary Bruce asked Leavitt.

“With any construction project, changes come. And we have informed all of you — we’ve been keeping you apprised of this project. We’ve shown you the renderings,” Leavitt responded.

“The plans changed when the president heard counsel from the architects and construction companies, who said that in order for this East Wing to be modern and beautiful for many, many years to come — for it to be a truly strong and stable structure — this first phase was necessary,” she added.

Jarring images of the construction have prompted backlash and questions, including whether the demolition could have been stopped and who is funding the project.

According to a White House official and sources familiar with the matter, the administration is requiring at least some construction workers involved in demolishing the East Wing to sign non-disclosure agreements barring them from discussing their work.

Later, Trump bragged that he had raised $350 million to fund the destruction of the East Wing — without consulting the agency tasked with overseeing construction of federal buildings in Washington, D.C., Hannah Demissie and Katherine Faulders also reported for ABC News.