View debris from the East Wing removed outside the White House during demolition
Workers continued to remove the remains of the East Wing of the White House after President Trump announced plans to build a banquet hall in its place.
President Donald Trump shared a rendering of the grander-looking new East Wing and Ballroom facade, saying it would be “same in height and scale” as the presidential mansion.
The sketch, which President Trump shared in a Feb. 3 Truth social post, provides a view of the future East Tower from the nearby Treasury Building, where photos of the bulldozed East Tower were first released in October amid public outcry.
“This is a rendering from the Treasury Building directly across the street, where a grand new east wing will replace the very small, aging, and multiple-rebuilt east wing,” Trump wrote. “It’s the same height and scale, so it’s a perfect match for the historic White House.”
The renderings also introduced a new architectural feature not present on the old East Wing facade: a pediment atop the columns. The new triangular gable, first shown in renderings shared by the White House in July, rests on six pillars. A new sketch shared by President Trump shows it atop eight pillars.
The 90,000-square-foot “New East Wing” and ballroom project has a price tag of $400 million and includes a new office for the first lady and a movie theater. The banquet hall will be able to accommodate 1,000 people.
This is an increase from plans announced in July for a banquet hall that would seat 650 people at a cost of $200 million.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation sued the Trump administration in December, seeking to block construction, saying the building had not gone through a review process, had not completed a proper environmental assessment, and had not sought approval from Congress.
President Trump disputed the group’s claims, saying, “At no time has the President needed to authorize a change or enhancement on any special basis, no matter how large (and important!) that enhancement may be.”
A hearing on the case will be held in Washington, D.C., on January 22 by U.S. District Judge Richard Leon, who is expected to issue an opinion this month.
Days after the hearing, President Trump said in a post on Truth Social that the lawsuit exposed “top secret facts” about the involvement of the U.S. military and Secret Service in several aspects of the project, including its design.
“Furthermore, in this case, it was done with the planning, consent, and approval of the highest levels of the U.S. military and secret intelligence services. By filing this ridiculous lawsuit, unfortunately, hitherto secret facts have already been exposed,” he wrote on Jan. 25.
On March 5, NCPC members are scheduled to vote on the project. An online portal for the public to register to speak is scheduled to open on February 12, according to recently filed court documents.
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy is USA TODAY’s White House correspondent. You can follow her at X @SwapnaVenugopal.
