A demolition crew on Monday began tearing down the East Wing facade of the White House in order to make way for President Donald Trump's luxury ballroom, in a project that one journalist said "captures" the president's approach to leading the country.
As reported by The Washington Post, workers used a backhoe to rip down the facade, and Trump later described the destruction as the start of a "much-needed project" at the White House.
“For more than 150 years, every president has dreamt about having a ballroom at the White House to accommodate people for grand parties, state visits, etc.,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, without citing any evidence that "every president" has wanted such a ballroom.
The cost of the ballroom is estimated at $250 million, and Trump is financing it by soliciting donations from some of America's wealthiest corporations—including several with government contracts and interests in deregulation—such as Apple, Lockheed Martin, Microsoft, Meta, Google, Amazon, and Palantir. The president held an exclusive White House dinner for some of the largest donors to the ballroom last week, in a move that many critics decried as a "cash-for-access" event.
The destruction of the East Wing facade comes as the federal government is three weeks into a shutdown that began when Democrats refused to join Republicans in voting for a continuing resolution that would allow crucial healthcare subsidies expire for millions of people, and Trump has shown little urgency in working to end the standoff—during which he's worked to purge the federal workforce.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) shredded Trump for working on a vanity project while government workers have been missing paychecks.
"We are 20 days into the Republican shutdown—healthcare costs are skyrocketing and federal workers aren’t getting paid," she wrote in a social media post. "What is Trump doing? Building his gold plated ballroom."
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) also blasted Trump for focusing on his ballroom instead of on the needs of the American people.
"Oh, you're trying to say the cost of living is skyrocketing?" she asked rhetorically. "Donald Trump can't hear you over the sound of bulldozers demolishing a wing of the White House to build a new grand ballroom."
Former US Labor Secretary Robert Reich also linked Trump's focus on the ballroom to his lack of urgency in reopening the government.
"Trump hosted a dinner last week for donors helping fund his ballroom project," he wrote Monday. "Today, crews are starting construction and literally tearing down parts of the White House. It's day 20 of the government shutdown and this is what he's prioritizing?"
Sen. Andy Kim (D-NJ) shared an old photo of his family at the White House East Wing before it was torn down and expressed sadness about the president's destruction of the historic building.
"We didn’t need a billionaire-funded ballroom to celebrate America," he said. "Disgusting what Trump is doing."
Prem Thakker, a reporter for Zeteo, added that the destruction of the East Wing was highly symbolic of what the president is doing to the country.
"Trump demolishing the White House to build a $250 million ballroom funded by Amazon, Lockheed Martin, and Palantir," he wrote. "All during a government shutdown, and as he covers up the Epstein files—captures it all pretty well doesn't it."
