There are few legal restrictions preventing the president from bulldozing parts of the White House. All that was needed was President Trump’s willingness to break with tradition.
Washington DC tourists are unhappy with the construction of the White House
Zach Anderson, USA TODAY’s White House correspondent, told tourists who flocked to the White House to see the construction site.
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump this week demolished the east wing of the White House to make room for a $300 million ballroom that he plans to pay for privately, shocking historic preservationists and infuriated Democratic critics.
Demolition crews began Monday, Oct. 20, by demolishing the east entrance to the east wing. The work expanded to include the entire east wing, which was historically used as office space for the first lady and her staff. Complete demolition is expected to be completed within days, and construction will continue throughout most of President Trump’s second term.
The project raises questions about whether President Trump has the legal authority to unilaterally decide to bulldoze much of the People’s House and build in its place a massive 90,000-square-foot structure that towers over the main White House building.
Perhaps surprisingly, there is little legal enforcement to stop him. All that was needed was the president’s willingness to break from the norm for construction projects on the White House grounds.
Here’s what we know:
Who owns the White House?
The White House was first built between 1792 and 1800, is owned by American citizens, and is overseen by the National Park Service. The east wing was added in 1942. In addition to the first lady’s office, the facility also includes an underground bunker, the Presidential Emergency Operations Center, which will also be modernized.
Does construction of the White House require historic approval?
The National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 requires reviews of projects that affect most historic buildings, but exempts the White House, Supreme Court building and the U.S. Capitol.
Priya Jain, chair of the Society of Architectural Historians’ Heritage Preservation Committee, said past renovations to the White House, even minor ones like renovating the cabin, went through the public review process required by the Historic Preservation Act, even though they weren’t required.
“Even if it’s not happening officially, we would assume it’s happening behind the scenes,” said Jain, whose group is calling for a halt to the demolition.
But that’s not the case with President Trump’s banquet plans, which Jain said exposed a “loophole” in federal law that should be reconsidered.
What about the National Capital Planning Commission?
Still, White House campus construction projects are typically reviewed by the Capitol Planning Commission, the federal government’s central planning agency since 1952.
The White House has said it plans to submit plans to build a banquet hall to the NCPC, but before that, the east wing will be demolished.
The White House maintains that the commission does not have jurisdiction over the demolition of federal buildings, only the construction process. Will Scharf, who was appointed by President Trump to chair the committee, made his position known at a public meeting on September 4th.
“The fact is that this commission has no jurisdiction, and has long denied jurisdiction over demolition and site preparation work on federal buildings and property,” Schaaf said. “What we’re dealing with is essentially construction, vertical construction.”
Could the Planning Commission deny the ballroom?
Trump’s ballroom will ultimately be submitted to the National Capital Planning Commission, which has no clear authority to outright veto projects from the White House.
The 1952 law that created the commission states that if a federal agency requesting a project disagrees with the commission’s views, “the agency may take action in accordance with its legal responsibilities and authorities.”
This could effectively mean that the commission’s report on President Trump’s banquet halls will become a series of recommendations for the project, rather than a binding decision.
Either way, the committee is filled with Trump supporters. Of the five appointed members of the 12-member commission, three are appointed by the president, including Schaaf, who is also President Trump’s White House chief of staff.
In past administrations, plans for some White House projects were also submitted to a second committee, the seven-member American Board of Fine Arts, which served as an advisory board on aesthetics and design. However, President Trump appears to be ignoring the commission when it comes to banquet halls.
Some disagree with the White House’s position on demolition.
Some historic preservationists and former members of the National Capital Commission say the banquet hall design should have been submitted for review before demolition began.
Brian Greene, a commissioner in the Biden administration, told Reuters: “You can’t separate the demolition from the new construction that follows.” “These are linked.”
Green said the tennis pavilion on the White House grounds, which was completed during President Trump’s first term, went through a review process by the NCPC and the National Commission on Fine Arts. He added that the impact of the demolition could have been avoided if plans for President Trump’s banquet hall had already been formally submitted.
“I don’t think anyone except a few people could imagine that a wrecking ball would hit the presidential palace, which is one of the most important buildings in our country, by surprise,” Greene told Reuters.
President Trump says he was told, “Doctor, you can start tonight.”
Trump spent decades in the real estate industry building towers and casinos. At an Oct. 15 dinner with society donors, he said he was surprised by the lack of necessary oversight.
He told me a story about two men he didn’t name but called “geniuses” and advised me to start the project right away.
“I said, ‘How long will it take?’ They said, ‘Sir, you can start tonight.’ I said, “What are you talking about? ”’ Trump recalled. “’Zero zoning requirements, you’re the president of…’ I said, ‘Are you kidding me? You mean I can actually do what I really want?’ Because I’m used to sitting down with community board heads and politicians.”
President Trump breaks promise not to touch existing buildings
With the demolition of the East Wing of the White House, President Trump broke his previous promise not to touch the existing White House structure.
“We’re not going to interfere with the existing building,” Trump told reporters on July 31. “We’re going to be close, but we’re not going to touch it, and we’re going to have complete respect for the existing building. I’m the biggest fan of that.”
President Trump said on Oct. 22 that the reason for the reversal was that after consulting with “some of the best architects in the world,” his team determined the east wing needed to be demolished to make way for the banquet hall.
A White House official told USA TODAY that the plan is “subject to change at any time” as the “process evolves.” The official said that before the demolition, a thorough conservation process was carried out in which historical items were relocated for safekeeping.
How big will the future ballroom be?
Historic preservationists have expressed concern about the size of President Trump’s ballroom, which is expected to be 90,000 square feet.
That would make it nearly twice the size of the main part of the White House, including the mansion.
“We are deeply concerned that the mass and height of the proposed new construction would overwhelm the White House itself,” the National Trust for Historic Preservation said in a statement. “Additionally, it could permanently disrupt the White House’s carefully balanced classical design, which has two small, low-slung east and west wings.”
Increase in size and cost
Trump initially said the new banquet hall would hold 650 people, about 200 more than the White House East Room, where presidents have historically held receptions.
But President Trump recently increased the capacity to more than 900 people.
The cost of the project has also increased to $300 million, up from $200 million when President Trump announced the project in July.
Who pays for the ballroom?
President Trump has repeatedly said he would pay for the banquet hall himself with personal funds raised from supporters, businesses and other donors.
The White House has so far released a list of 37 donors, including companies such as Amazon, Apple, Caterpillar, Coinbase, Google, Comcast, HP, Lockhead Martin, Meta, Microsoft, T-Mobile, and Union Pacific Railroad. Donors also include two wealthy Cabinet members: Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and his family and Small Business Secretary Kelly Loeffler.
Why does Trump want a banquet hall?
President Trump has long complained about the White House’s lack of banquet halls for large events.
He frequently claims that his predecessors have been talking about the lack of banquet halls for “at least 150 years,” but it is unclear to whom he is referring. The ballroom, in particular, was a personal priority for President Trump.
“When it rains, it’s a disaster. And the tents are 100 yards away. That’s more than a football field from the front door,” President Trump said on October 15. “It’s not a pretty sight. The women are wearing nice evening dresses and their hair is all done, and by the time they get there it’s a mess.”
Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida has a 20,000-square-foot ballroom. During the 2016 election, President Trump offered to pay $100 million of his own money to build a banquet hall, but President Obama rejected the offer.
X Contact Joey Garrison at @joeygarrison.
