Donald Trump’s demolition of the White House’s historic East Wing to make way for a new ballroom was completed this week.
It comes after the White House said in July “nothing will be torn down” to facilitate the construction of a planned 90,000-square-foot, glass-walled ballroom that Trump said will have capacity for 999 people.
The $300m (£225m) project has drawn outrage from historians, preservationists, Democrats and members of the public and concerns have been raised about the lack of consultation and oversight.
Pictures reveal the dramatic transformation that has taken place in days.
Here The i Paper looks at how the tearing down of the East Wing unfolded.
On 15 October, when Trump met with donors for his new ballroom at the White House, he relayed a conversation he had had about the project. “I said, ‘How long will it take me?’ ‘Sir, you can start tonight, you have no approvals,'” Trump said. He added: “I said, ‘You gotta be kidding.’ They said, ‘Sir, this is the White House, you’re the president of the United States, you can do anything you want.'”
Trump said the planned 90,000-square-foot, glass-walled ballroom will have capacity for 999 people (Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images) President Donald Trump hosted donors for his new ballroom at the White House on 15 October (Photo: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)Days later, on Monday 20 October, demolition crews bulldozed the East Wing of the White House, reducing decades of history at one of the country’s most famous landmarks to a pile of rubble.
President Donald Trump’s plan to build a ballroom will reportedly cost $300m (Photo: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)On the same day, Trump confirmed to the press ground had been broken on the site. “Right behind us, we’re building a ballroom,” he told visiting college baseball athletes from Louisiana State University in the nearby White House residence’s East Room.
“I didn’t know I’d be standing here right now ’cause right on the other side you have a lot of construction going on, which you might hear periodically.”
The destruction of part of the wing, the traditional operations base for the first lady, began after the clearing of trees and other site preparation work started in September.
By Tuesday 21 October, work on the site had progressed and the White House announced it will submit plans for the ballroom project to the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC), the body that oversees federal building construction.
The facade of the East Wing of the White House is demolished by work crews on October 21, 2025 (Photo: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)But the NCPC offices are closed because of the government shutdown and the White House has maintained that it does not need the commission’s approval for demolition, only construction.
Trump enthused over the noise of the demolition work on Tuesday. “You probably hear the beautiful sound of construction to the back,” he said to Republican lawmakers gathered in the White House Rose Garden, which he has also made changes to. “That’s music to my ears. I love that sound. Other people don’t like it. … When I hear that sound it reminds me of money.”
Tourists walking past the south lawn of the White House also heard loud bangs emanating from the demolition site, with some stopping briefly to see excavators tearing down the roof of the East Wing.
The demolition of the East Wing of the White House is seen from an elevated position on the North side of the White House (Photo: Andrew Leyden/Reuters)On Wednesday reports circulated that the two-storey structure of drawing rooms and offices, including workspace for first ladies and their staff, had been turned into rubble.
Trump said keeping it would have “hurt a very, very expensive, beautiful building” which he claimed presidents have wanted for years.
A worker clears rubble after the East Wing of the White House was demolished on 23 October (Photo: Eric Lee/Getty Images) Satellite images of the White House show before and after the demolition of the East Wing (Photo: Planet Labs PBC via AP) square JAMES BALL Gavin Newsom is showing Democrats how to take the fight to Donald Trump
Read More
Photos taken by the news agencies on Thursday captured the complete demolition of the entire White House East Wing.
On Friday 24 October it was confirmed that the entire East Wing of the White House had been demolished.
Critics have said the demolition equates to the loss of a significant piece of US history, and some have said the act is a physical symbol of a presidency that has taken a wrecking ball to domestic and international norms.
“I think this is the developer’s mentality again of building something big that has your name on it and that everyone remembers you for. A Trump Tower,” Jeremi Suri, a University of Texas historian told Reuters. “He’s building a tower for himself. This is a ballroom tower.”
Hence then, the article about how trump tore down the white house east wing day by day was published today ( ) and is available on inews ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( How Trump tore down the White House East Wing, day by day )
Also on site :