The White House East Wing Is Getting A Mar-A-Lago Makeover, Ballroom Cost Rises to $300 Million
The Trump administration is defending its complete demolition of the White House East Wing—despite earlier assurances it would remain untouched—to make way for President Donald Trump’s $300 million ballroom project.
“This is going to be a magnificent addition to the White House for many years to come, and it’s not costing the taxpayers anything,” Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday.
Recent images revealed that the East Wing, home to the First Lady’s offices and other key spaces, has been entirely razed. The original project, once pitched as a modest $200 million expansion, has grown by $100 million, which the administration attributes to “construction adjustments.”
Leavitt said Trump reversed course after receiving “counsel” from architects who told him the demolition was “necessary” to ensure a modern, stable structure.
“The president wants to do right by the People’s House,” Leavitt added.
When asked by CBS’s Weijia Jiang whether the president believes he can “tear down anything he wants without oversight,” Leavitt claimed the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) had long held that demolitions didn’t require approval unless followed by vertical construction.
“It’s not the president who came up with that legal opinion himself,” she said
Former White House aides blasted the demolition as unnecessary and self-indulgent.
“The destruction of the White House is the perfect metaphor for what the president has done to our country and the economy,” said Jeremy Edwards, a former spokesperson and now advisor at The Century Foundation.
Leavitt dismissed the criticism, saying the president’s “builder instincts” guide his decisions. “He’s a builder at heart, clearly, and so his heart and his mind are always churning about how to improve things here on the White House grounds,” she said.
Leavitt maintained that the ballroom will be funded entirely through private donations from Trump and his network of supporters. The White House has pledged to release a “full and complete list” of donors and amounts.
“The president has been incredibly transparent. I would reject any notion otherwise when it comes to this ballroom project,” Leavitt said.
A rendering unveiled Wednesday shows Trump presenting his proposed ballroom design to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office. The ballroom, adorned with gold accents and towering chandeliers, will replace the demolished East Wing footprint.
A final name for the grand hall, Leavitt added, “will be announced once the president firmly decides on it.”
