Exclusive: Trump's demolition of the White House East Wing is nearly complete
Photos obtained by Law Dork show the dramatic extent of the first step in Trump's purported plan to build a new ballroom on White House grounds with private funds.
Photos obtained exclusively by Law Dork on Tuesday show that President Donald Trump is completely demolishing the East Wing of the White House as part of his stated plan to build a ballroom befitting his standards on the White House grounds.
Although Trump earlier had said the ballroom “won’t interfere with the current building,“ this week it became abundantly clear that was a lie. And, this dramatic change to the governmental building, Trump says, is happening care of private money and outside of any governmental — and transparent — funding process.
After The Washington Post first reported on Monday that demolition had begun, The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday night that Treasury Department employees next door to the demolition were told to “refrain from taking and sharing photographs of the grounds, to include the East Wing, without prior approval from the Office of Public Affairs.“
On Tuesday, Law Dork obtained these photographs taken of the ongoing demolition.
Although the Post’s initial story detailed the “East Wing facade“ being demolished and that teams on Monday were “demolishing a portion of the East Wing,“ the Tuesday photograph obtained by Law Dork makes clear that most if not all of the entirety of the East Wing is being demolished.
A second photo obtained by Law Dork from another angle shows the extent of the demolition has already reached all but the western and northern walls of the East Wing.
One of the most complete reports that I have found on what is known about what is going on comes from Bryan Gottlieb at Engineering News-Record.
In the report, he noted that “[t]he project, announced July 31 by the White House, will be built by Clark Construction Group with AECOM as engineer and McCrery Architects as designer.”
Additionally, Gottlieb explained:
Regulatory filings show that as of Sept. 4 no submission had been made to the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC), which reviews major federal projects in the capital region.
Commission Chairman Will Scharf, who also serves as White House staff secretary, said during a public meeting that “what we deal with is essentially construction, vertical build,” explaining why demolition and site-preparation work began before NCPC review. The interpretation leaves design oversight unresolved, even as groundwork proceeds.
The ENR report also noted that Executive Order 11593, signed by Richard Nixon, is applicable to the work. Other resources, including a 2014 report from the National Park Service that was highlighted by the Post, address other relevant authorities, including a 1961 law signed by John F. Kennedy that the White House Historical Association describes as “legislating the White House’s status as a museum and extending legal protection to donated period furnishings and all White House objects.“
It is not clear that the Trump administration consulted with any of these laws or orders, let alone followed them, before demolition began on Monday.
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This is, in addition to everything else, yet another example of Trump using his office to get people to give him money. As Trump wrote on Truth social on Monday, “The White House Ballroom is being privately funded by many generous Patriots, Great American Companies, and, yours truly.“
Generous. Sure.
The image of the White House standing in 33% ruins is an apt metaphor for what this administration means to do to the nation. Honestly it makes me physically ill to look at.
He is treating the People's House as though he owns it. What a vile POS he is. This destruction makes me weep.