How Trump is demolishing the White House East Wing for his new ballroom

Workers have demolished much of the 83-year-old East Wing in preparation for President Donald Trump’s planned $250 million ballroom at the White House.

Demolition work began without prior public notice on Oct. 20, when workers took down the entrance to the East Wing. Dismantling continued the next day when much of the East Wing was torn down.

The work contradicts Trump’s statement in July that the ballroom would not interfere with the current building. “It’ll be near it but not touching it,” he wrote on Truth Social.

Trump’s White House ballroom is something he’s always wanted, the centerpiece of what’s planned as the largest construction project for the executive mansion since the Harry Truman administration.

Trump, in a post on social media, said the East Wing is “being fully modernized as part of this process and will be more beautiful than ever when it is complete.”

Ground crews cut down trees and shrubs on the South Lawn in preparation in September for the $250 million, 90,000-square-foot expansion of the East Wing that will contain the White House Ballroom, a formal dining area for an estimated 999 people.

“It’s going to be a beauty. It’ll be an absolutely magnificent structure,” Trump said on Sept. 13.

Though project details have not been released, the ballroom itself is estimated at 25,000 square feet in size according to an analysis by Common Edge.

Work is expected to be completed by the end of Trump’s second term in office in 2029. It will be funded by “President Trump and other patriot donors,” the White House said.

How White House Ballroom will compare to other famous ones

The White House ballroom will be close in size to the 1,000-seat ballroom at Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s estate and private club in Palm Beach, Florida.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on July 31 that construction on the ballroom and modernization of the East Wing would begin in September. The number of ballroom seats was put at 650.

Trump said on Sept. 13 that the ballroom would be “a little bigger” than originally planned, with seating for 900 people instead. He later put the number at 999 people.

There are two dining rooms in the Executive Residence, both on the first floor, but not adjacent:

State Dining Room: 140 guests.

East Room: 200 guests.

Larger White House gatherings of 300 to 400 people were held in elaborate tents on the South Lawn.

Have there been previous renovations at the White House?

Yes. This is the largest construction project for the executive mansion since the Harry Truman administration renovated much of the White House interior. Other renovations were undertaken by Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Roosevelt.

Who is working on the White House Ballroom?

McCrery Architects in Washington is the lead architect on the project. Clark Construction will oversee construction work and AECOM will lead engineering, the White House said.