White House East Wing Demolition Begins, Trump's Grand Ballroom Coming Soon?

Liputan6.com, Jakarta Demolition of part of the East Wing of the White House in Washington, D.C., began on Monday, October 20, 2025.

This demolition is to make way for the construction of an ambitious new ballroom, a project initiated by President Donald Trump, as reported by AP News.

The $250 million ballroom project aims to provide a much larger event space than the East Room, which can only accommodate about 200 people.

Trump announced the start of construction in a social media post and referenced the work while hosting the 2025 college baseball champions, Louisiana State University and LSU-Shreveport, in the East Room.

He noted that the work is underway "right behind us."

“We have a lot of construction going on, which you might hear periodically,” he said, adding, “It just started today.”

Demolition crews have begun tearing down part of the White House to build President Trump’s long-desired ballroom — despite his pledge that construction of the $250 million addition wouldn’t “interfere” with the existing building. https://t.co/gdi8H3VWuf pic.twitter.com/XnmWKVOQzr

— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) October 20, 2025

The planned new ballroom will span approximately 90,000 square feet and accommodate up to 999 people.

The project is estimated to cost approximately $250 million, up from the initial estimate of $200 million.

Funding will come entirely from President Donald Trump and private donors, including major corporations such as Amazon, Coinbase, Google, and Lockheed Martin.

The teams involved in this project include McCrery Architects as the lead architect, Clark Construction as the construction team, and AECOM as the engineering team.

Trump insisted that presidents have coveted such a ballroom for 150 years, adding the 90,000-square-foot (about 9,000 square meters) glass-walled space because the East Room, the largest in the White House with a capacity of about 200 people, was too small.

Trump said in the social media announcement that the project would be done without interfering the country pax.

“With zero cost to the American Taxpayer! The White House Ballroom is being privately funded by many generous Patriots, Great American Companies, and, yours truly," Trump says.

Construction crews have been actively demolishing portions of the East Wing facade, including the roof, entrances, and windows, since last Monday.

Photos obtained by major media outlets such as The Washington Post and CNN show significant demolition activity, with the interior of the structure beginning to be demolished.

A backhoe has been used to tear apart the structure, indicating the intensity of the work underway.

Construction sounds are clearly audible across the White House campus, although the project is not easily visible to the public due to security fencing on the grounds.

Site preparation work, including tree removal, began in September 2025.

President Trump previously stated that the ballroom construction would not "disrupt" the existing White House structure, but the partial demolition of the East Wing proved otherwise.

The First Lady's office, traditionally located in the East Wing, had to be temporarily relocated during construction.

The White House insisted that it did not require National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) approval for demolition work.

However, the project had not been submitted for review by the NCPC, whose approval process often takes years.

NCPC Chairman Will Scharf, who is also the White House staff secretary and a top Trump aide, stated that the agency had no jurisdiction over demolition or site preparation work.