President Trump bulldozed ahead Thursday with the total demolition of White House’s historic East Wing to make room for his glitzy giant new ballroom.
After days of construction equipment clawing down chunks of the century-old East Wing, photos showed the traditional home of the first lady’s offices reduced to nothing more than dusty piles of rubble.
Trump has brushed off howls of outrage from political critics and preservationists over the abrupt tear-down, which started without any notice on Monday.
He says workers will soon start work to erect a gaudy ballroom that will be bigger than the entire rest of the White House, at a cost that has quickly ballooned up to $300 million from an initial estimate of $200 million.
Trump insists he isn’t required to go through any approval processes for the massive renovation project and ignored a letter from the Trust for Historic Preservation pleading for a pause in the demolition earlier in the week.
The 90,000-square-foot windowed ballroom will rise on the footprint of the former East Wing as well as a big chunk of the White House grounds.
Trump says deep-pocketed donors will foot the bill but has yet to provide a detailed accounting. Critics say the process is rife with obvious conflicts of interest and potential influence peddling, charges Trump has waved off.
The real estate developer-in-chief says the ballroom will have room for 1,000 guests and is badly needed to host state dinners and other sprawling events that now must be hosted in tents.
Trump has already revamped the White House to his taste, paving over the Rose Garden to create a patio and ordering gold trim in the Oval Office. He wants to erect an arch dubbed the Arc de Trump across the Potomac River from the Lincoln Memorial.
