Video: Demolition begins on White House East Wing

Video credit: Cover Media via Reuters Connect

Heavy construction equipment was seen dismantling the facade of the building, which currently houses the first lady’s offices, a theater, and a visitor entrance for foreign dignitaries.

The ballroom project is expected to cost upwards of $250 million, which President Trump said in July would be funded by himself and private donors.

Trump announced on Monday that ground had been broken on the project after images of the demolition began circulating in news reports.

“Right behind us, we’re building a ballroom,” Trump told visiting college baseball athletes from Louisiana State University in the nearby White House residence’s East Room. “I didn’t know I’d be standing here right now ‘cause right on the other side you have a lot of construction going on, which you might hear periodically.”

The project will create a standalone ballroom adjacent to the East Wing, with future events expected to start in the East Room before moving into the new space, which will offer views of the Washington Monument.

“It will be beautiful,” Trump said in July. “It won’t interfere with the current building. It won’t be - it will be near it, but not touching it. And pays total respect to the existing building, which I’m the biggest fan of. It’s my favorite.

The current East Wing was erected in 1942, during Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration and amid World War Two, over a bunker built for the president’s use in case of emergency.