WASHINGTON ― President Donald Trump is demolishing the entire East Wing of the White House, a dramatic change from his previous pledge not to touch the historic building as he plows ahead with installing a massive, new ballroom.
The East Wing, which was built in 1902 and expanded in 1942, is expected to be fully torn down by this weekend, per for the demolition from the National Capital Planning Commission, the executive branch agency with jurisdiction over construction and major renovations to government buildings in D.C. But the person who leads that commission has said it’s fine ― and happens to be one of Trump’s top aides and his former personal attorney, Will Scharf.
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Scharf, whom Trump tapped for this post in July, right around the time the president announced his plans for renovations, has claimed the commission is only required to vet rebuilding, not demolition work.
via Associated Press
The lack of transparency in this process continues to infuriate historic preservationists and people with eyes, as photos of the destroyed East Wing surface on social media.
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The National Trust for Historic Preservation, a leading preservation organization created by Congress to help preserve historic buildings, warned Tuesday that Trump’s planned ballroom will “overwhelm the White House itself,” which is about 55,000 square feet.
At least one Republican senator is unhappy that Trump has decided to destroy the White House in the midst of an ongoing government shutdown, during which the president has done nothing to help resolve it.
“The timing is bad,” Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) told HuffPost on Tuesday.
“We’re in the middle of a shutdown,” he said. “Got a couple of other things going on that we should probably focus on ahead of a building project.”
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