Overview
- Bulldozers began tearing down part of the East Wing facade Monday, with photographers and reporters documenting the demolition as Trump announced the project’s start.
- The administration says the $250 million ballroom is privately financed by donors and the president, naming Apple, Amazon, Lockheed Martin and Coinbase.
- A promised public list of contributors has not been released, and no federal approval for the work has been presented publicly.
- The work contradicts a July claim from spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt that “nothing will be demolished,” and the first lady’s offices have been relocated.
- Plans call for a Mar-a-Lago–style hall seating up to 999 and described as the largest White House structural change in decades, with completion targeted before January 2029.