Overview
- Demolition of the East Wing was completed last week to clear space for a roughly 90,000-square-foot ballroom that the White House says will be privately funded at about $300 million.
- The administration has not filed construction plans with the National Capital Planning Commission, and project lead Will Scharf argues demolition did not require prior approval.
- A White House donor list features major technology, crypto and defense firms including Apple, Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Lockheed Martin, Palantir, Coinbase, Ripple and Tether, drawing conflict-of-interest scrutiny from ethics experts.
- First Lady Melania Trump has privately raised concerns about tearing down the East Wing and has told associates the ballroom was not her project, according to The Wall Street Journal.
- The East Wing historically housed the first lady’s offices, reception rooms, a family theater and parts of the emergency bunker, and affected offices have been relocated across the residence and to the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.