Crews began tearing down the exterior of the White House’s East Wing on Monday, launching a major phase in the ongoing construction of a new 90,000-square-foot ballroom. The White House’s East Wing gets demolished as part of one of the largest structural overhauls the grounds have seen in decades.
By the afternoon, parts of the demolition were clearly visible from a park near the Treasury Department. A track excavator reached over the site, pulling down large portions of the wall. Debris, including glass, wires, and broken masonry, piled up quickly, while workers navigated the area beneath scaffolding and heavy machinery.
The ballroom project, which President Donald Trump says will cost approximately $250 million, marks the most extensive construction effort on the White House grounds since President Harry S. Truman’s post-war renovation of the West Wing. Trump stated that the new space will be able to hold up to 999 people.
Construction launches amid ongoing White House activity
While crews dismantled the East Wing, Trump met with a collegiate baseball championship team on the opposite side of the building.
During the visit, he noted that construction had just started that day and acknowledged the noise coming from the ongoing work behind them. He also mentioned that the ballroom was being built directly on the other side of the residence.
Workers demolish the facade of the East Wing of the White House as part of U.S. President Donald Trump's plan to build a multimillion-dollar ballroom.
📸: @KevinDietsch pic.twitter.com/Ye129scvAL— Getty Images News (@GettyImagesNews) October 20, 2025
The East Wing has long served as the office space for the first lady and her staff. In early September, members of Melania Trump’s team began packing up and relocating to other areas of the White House complex in anticipation of the disruption.
Initial plans for the ballroom were revealed in July, when Trump said the new addition would not interfere with the existing building. However, given the size and location of the project, that expectation appeared impractical from the start.
Past real estate demolitions echo in East Wing project
Trump’s approach to the East Wing demolition echoes his long-standing history in real estate development, where large-scale teardown and redevelopment were central to his business style.
In 1980, Trump razed the Bonwit Teller building on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan to construct Trump Tower. Although he had pledged to preserve the historic limestone sculptures on the building’s facade, they were destroyed during demolition.
When asked by journalist Marie Brenner whether that decision had harmed his image, Trump dismissed the concern, saying the artwork would have likely ended up in storage at a museum.
That attitude toward redevelopment can be traced back to his father, Fred Trump, who in 1966 tore down a 19th-century amusement park in Coney Island.
To mark the demolition, he staged a publicity event featuring bikini-clad models in hard hats and encouraged attendees to throw bricks at the park’s glass pavilion, known locally as Funny Face.
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