Trump Begins Demolition of White House Wing for New $250 Million Ballroom

US President Donald Trump — long described as a political “wrecking ball” for his unconventional style — has now taken the term quite literally. On Monday, demolition work began on part of the White House’s East Wing, making way for what the president has announced will be a $250 million grand ballroom, the most extensive addition to the historic mansion in over a century.

According to AFP journalists at the scene, construction crews and heavy machinery were seen tearing through the East Wing façade, leaving behind piles of rubble, exposed steel, and shattered masonry.

During a White House event with college baseball players, Trump briefly acknowledged the construction noise, remarking,

“Right on the other side, you have a lot of construction that you might hear occasionally.”

Later that evening, the 79-year-old billionaire formally announced the project on his Truth Social platform: “I am pleased to announce that ground has been broken on the White House grounds to build the new, big, beautiful White House Ballroom.”

He added that the East Wing would be “fully modernised” as part of the project and would emerge “more beautiful than ever when it is complete.”

Traditionally, the East Wing has served as the office of the First Lady, while the President works from the West Wing, and the couple reside in the Executive Mansion.

However, Trump has described the East Wing as “completely separate from the White House itself” — a claim that is technically inaccurate, as the wing is physically connected to the main building by a covered colonnade.

The president says the new ballroom, spanning 90,000 square feet and accommodating up to 1,000 guests, will provide an official space for state dinners, galas, and large receptions, which are currently hosted in temporary tents.

Trump announced that the project will be entirely privately funded, supported by what he described as “many generous Patriots, Great American Companies, and, yours truly.”

He hosted a lavish donor dinner last week at the White House to raise funds for the ballroom, attended by executives from some of the world’s most powerful corporations, including Amazon, Apple, Meta, Google, Microsoft, Palantir, and Lockheed Martin — all of which maintain significant business dealings or contracts with the U.S. government.

Also in attendance were Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, the twin entrepreneurs behind the Gemini cryptocurrency platform, famously depicted in the film The Social Network for their dispute over the founding of Facebook.

“The White House Ballroom is being privately funded... This Ballroom will be happily used for generations to come,” Trump declared.

The new ballroom forms part of a broader, highly publicised redesign of the White House under Trump’s renewed leadership since January.

Among his aesthetic overhauls are:

• Gold-accented redesign of the Oval Office.
• Complete paving of the Rose Garden, replacing grass with stonework.
• Planned construction of a grand triumphal arch in Washington, dubbed by critics the “Arc de Trump.”

Trump’s latest undertaking — both symbolic and architectural — continues to draw strong reactions. Supporters hail it as a patriotic modernisation of a national landmark, while critics call it a self-indulgent monument to personal grandeur.

Whatever the verdict, one fact is certain: for Donald Trump, the “wrecking ball” image has never rung truer — this time, quite literally breaking new ground at the heart of American power.