US president Donald Trump has authorised demolition work on part of the White House to create space for his new ballroom, officials said. The crew began tearing down part of the East Wing on Monday as Trump said work had formally commenced on a huge new $250-million ballroom.
The 79-year-old billionaire said he hosted college baseball players at the White House on Monday while “the construction on the other side was going on.”
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump wrote, “I am quite pleased to announce that the ground has been broken on the White House to build the new, big, beautiful White House Ballroom.”
He said the East Wing was being “fully upgraded as part of the process and will be more beautiful than ever before once completed.”
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Historically the East Wing is where the first ladies have traditionally had their offices.
While the West Wing remains a workplace for the President. Trump has said that at least a 90,000 square foot ballroom is needed to host large state dinners accommodating more than 1000 people at a time.
Trump thanked the donors for support and allowed a former reality TV star to hold a lavish dinner at the White House last week for donors to the ballroom.
The guests included representatives from tech giants like Amazon, Apple, Meta, Google, Microsoft and Palantir and defence giant Lockheed Martin, all companies with significant contracts or other dealings with the government.
"The White House Ballroom is being privately funded by many generous Patriots, Great American Companies, and yours truly. This Ballroom will be happily used for Generations to come!" Trump said on Monday.