Trump puts permanent stamp on White House with ballroom plan

Historians largely aghast over demolition of East Wing, but Trump’s allies praise vision

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A view of the demolition of the White House's East Wing on Oct 23. The construction of US President Donald Trump's new US$300 million (S$390 million) ballroom will be paid for by private donors, reducing oversight restrictions. PHOTO: REUTERS Mr Trump holding a rendering of the new White House ballroom at a meeting with Nato Secretary-General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office in Washington on Oct 22. White House officials and Mr Trump have said they were transparent about the work, showing pictures of the proposed ballroom and talking openly about his intentions. PHOTO: DOUG MILLS/NYTIMES

(REUTERS DOUG MILLS/NYTIMES)

When US President Donald Trump met donors for his new ballroom at the White House earlier in October, he relayed a story that thrilled his real estate mogul heart.

“I said, ‘How long will it take me?’ ‘Sir, you can start tonight, you have no approvals,’” Mr Trump said on Oct 15, describing a conversation he had had about the project.

“I said, ‘You gotta be kidding’ They said, ‘Sir, this is the White House, you're the President of the United States, you can do anything you want.”

Days later, demolition crews bulldozed the East Wing of the White House, reducing decades of history at one of the country’s most famous landmarks to a pile of rubble and drawing outrage from historians, preservationists, Democrats and the public.

Mr Trump had achieved what he wanted: a clean slate for his new US$300 million (S$390 million) ballroom. It was an action that seemed to symbolise, in physical form, a presidency that has taken a wrecking ball to national norms, international institutions and the world order itself.