On October 20, 2025, President Donald Trump began tearing down the East Wing of the White House in order to build a 250 million dollar ballroom. Despite not getting approval to make this change to the building, the construction continues to move forward. The ballroom that President Trump wishes to install will have approximately 90,000 square feet of space and the capacity to fit 999 people at the very least. President Trump states that previous US presidents “have desired such a ballroom for 150 years,” with the reasoning being that the largest room in the East Wing, the East Room, is too small, despite having the capacity to fit at least 200 people (AP news). 

The addition of this ballroom will be the first time the White House has been structurally changed since 1948, when President Truman added a balcony to the White House. The East Wing of the White House has many offices, which will be temporarily relocated until the construction is complete and their offices are renovated and modernized. The construction of said ballroom will begin in September 2025 and will be completed before the end of President Trump’s presidency in early 2029. 

The President stated that the ballroom will not interfere with the everyday activity in the White House, with President Trump stating that it will be “near it but not touching it and pays total respect to the existing building, which I’m the biggest fan of.” President Trump has also stated that the funding for this project is not coming out of the pocket of the American taxpayers, but rather by being privately funded by many different sources, including himself. The White House stated that it would disclose information about who is funding the project, but there has been no update on that so far.