The White House is beginning to demolish part of the East Wing to build Trump’s ballroom

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House on Monday began demolishing part of the East Wing, the first lady’s traditional base, to build President Donald Trump’s $250 million ballroom, despite the lack of approval for construction from the federal agency that oversees such projects.

Dramatic photos of the demolition work showed construction equipment tearing into the facade of the East Wing and windows and other building parts lying in tatters on the ground. Some reporters watched from a park near the Treasury Department, which is next to the east wing.

Trump announced the start of construction in a social media post and referenced the work while hosting 2025 college baseball champions Louisiana State University and LSU-Shreveport in the East Room. He noted that the work was taking place “right behind us.”

“There’s a lot of construction going on, and you hear that from time to time,” he said, adding, “It just started today.”

The White House has moved forward with the massive construction project despite not yet receiving approval from the National Capital Planning Commission, which approves construction and major renovations of government buildings in the Washington area.

Its chairman, Will Scharf, who is also White House staff secretary and one of Trump’s top aides, said at the committee’s September meeting that the agency has no jurisdiction over demolition or preparation work for buildings on federal land.

“What we’re dealing with is essentially construction, vertical construction,” Scharf said last month.

It was unclear whether the White House had submitted the ballroom plans for the agency’s review and approval. The White House did not respond to a request for comment and the committee’s offices are closed due to the government shutdown.

The Republican president had said in July, when the project was announced, that the ballroom would not interfere with the mansion itself.

“It will be close, but not touching, and it will be completely respectful of the existing building, which I am the biggest fan of,” he said of the White House.

Several offices are located in the East Wing, including that of the first lady. It was built in 1902 and has been renovated over the years, with a second floor added in 1942, the White House said.

Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said the east wing offices will be temporarily relocated during construction and the wing of the building will be modernized and renovated.

“Nothing will be demolished,” Leavitt said when she announced the project in July.

Trump insists that presidents have wanted such a ballroom for 150 years and that he is adding the massive 90,000-square-foot, glass-walled space because the East Room, the largest room in the White House with a capacity of about 200 people, is too small. He has also said he doesn’t like the idea of ​​hosting kings, queens, presidents and prime ministers in pavilions on the South Lawn.

Trump said in the social media announcement that the project would be completed “at no cost to the American taxpayers! The White House Ballroom is privately funded by many generous patriots, major American corporations and yours truly.”

The ballroom will be the largest structural change to the Executive Mansion since the 1948 addition of the Truman Balcony overlooking the South Lawn, dwarfing even the home itself.

At a dinner he hosted last week for some wealthy businessmen who are donating money toward the $250 million construction cost, Trump said the project had grown in size and will now accommodate 999 people. When announced in July, the capacity was 650 seats.

The White House has said it will release information about who contributed money to the ballroom’s construction, but has not yet done so.

In September, felling of trees on the southern site and other preparatory work for the site began. Plans call for the ballroom to be completed before Trump’s term ends in January 2029.