Construction crews appear to have started demolishing part of the East Wing of the White House to make way for Donald Trump’s planned ballroom.
The Washington Post, which obtained and published photos of the demolition activity and cited two eyewitnesses, reported on Monday that demolition is under way and shared an image showing construction in progress and parts of the exterior ripped down.
Other images, including ones seen in the New York Post, also show demolition of parts of the East Wing.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Guardian.
Plans to build an enormous $250m ballroom addition to the White House – one of the largest projects at the White House in more than a century – emerged in July. At the time, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the renovated space would span 90,000 sq ft (8,300 sq meters) and seat up to 650 people. Officials said that it would be paid for by Trump and unnamed donors.
Of the renovation, Trump said in July: “In the White House, for 150 years, they’ve wanted to have a ballroom,” adding that “there’s never been a president that was good at ballrooms.
“I’m good at building things and we’re going to build quickly and on time” he said. “It’ll be beautiful, top, top of the line.”
Reports broke in August that work would begin in September. It’s expected to be completed before the end of Trump’s second term, in January 2029.
Trump previously claimed that the new structure would not “interfere with the current building,” according to the Washington Post.
“It’ll be near it but not touching it – and pays total respect to the existing building, which I’m the biggest fan of” Trump said during an executive order signing in July, according to the Post. “It’s my favorite. It’s my favorite place. I love it.”
Earlier this month, Trump hosted a dinner at the White House for donors funding the ballroom. During the event, he reportedly opened the curtains of the East Room to show where construction on the ballroom had started. He told the guests that the new venue would feature bulletproof glass, accommodate 1,000 people and be capable of hosting a presidential inauguration.
Guests at the dinner reportedly included representatives from Amazon, Apple, Meta, Google, Microsoft, Palantir and Lockheed Martin.
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