Overview
- New photos and eyewitness accounts show excavators ripping into the East Wing facade this week, with a higher perimeter fence erected as demolition continues.
- A White House official told ABC News the entirety of the East Wing will be modernized for the project, and East Wing offices have been relocated within the complex.
- Trump previously said the ballroom would not interfere with the existing building, yet he suggested guests could walk from the East Room into the new space as teardown proceeds.
- The roughly 90,000-square-foot venue is projected to cost about $200–$250 million and be paid by Trump and private donors, though a full donor list has not been released; Carrier confirmed an HVAC donation.
- Preservation groups urged a halt until required public reviews occur, noting plans have not yet been submitted to the National Capital Planning Commission, and the White House says it still intends to file.