US PRESIDENT DONALD Trump has confirmed that the White House’s iconic East Wing is being torn down in its entirety to make way for a huge $300 million (€256m) ballroom – a far more extensive demolition than previously announced.

Trump told reporters at an Oval Office event that he had decided after consulting architects that “really knocking it down” was preferable to a partial demolition.

The president was asked about the work at an event alongside Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte, after a mechanical excavator was photographed ripping through the East Wing’s facade, leaving a tangle of broken masonry, rubble and steel wires.

The East Wing is where US first ladies have traditionally had their offices. The president works in the West Wing and the couple live in the Executive Mansion.

Trump says the new 90,000-square-foot ballroom with a capacity of 1,000 people is needed to host large state dinners and other events that currently have to be held in a tent.

THE FINEST BALLROOM EVER BUILT!

"We're doing it NO COST to the country... in order to do it properly, we had to take down the existing structure." - President Trump 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/5puxoB2HZS

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) October 23, 2025

Trump’s comments yesterday put the cost of the demolition at $300 million, raising the cost from the $250 million quoted by the White House days ago.

While the US president said that the East Wing is “completely separate from the White House itself,” it is in fact physically joined to the main mansion by a covered colonnade.

The facelift has raised questions about what critics have decried as a lack of transparency, and has led to complaints that there was no advance notice or consultation.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation said in a letter to the Trump administration that it was “deeply concerned” over the development.

A rendition of the East Wing with the new White House Ballroom - a leading heritage group in the US has warned that the works will 'overwhelm' the existing historic buildings. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

The Trust has argued this week that the “massing and height of the proposed new construction will overwhelm the White House itself” which is 55,000 square feet.

It believes it may also “permanently disrupt the carefully balanced classical design” of the White House with its two smaller and lower East and West Wings.

With reporting by – © AFP2025