Trump to demolish the East Wing of the White House to turn it into a ballroom

The entire East Wing of the White House will be demolished to make way for the massive ballroom that President Donald Trump is building, a senior White House official said Wednesday.

The disclosure came three months after Trump promised the East Wing structure would not be touched to build the 90,000-square-foot, $250 million ballroom.

Images showing the demolition of part of the east wing sparked public anger this week.

“Plans have changed,” the White House official told CNBC on Wednesday.

This official cited “structural reasons” for the decision to demolish the entire east wing.

“The East Wing will be more modern and beautiful than ever,” the official said, adding that it will be popular with presidents and first ladies for years to come.

It will include a “large, beautiful ballroom,” the official said.

The New York Times was the first to report the decision to demolish the entire wing of the White House.

Demolition work should be completed by this weekend, an official told The Times.

In July, Trump said the ballroom would be built next to the East Wing.

“It will be close but not touching, and it will totally respect the existing building, which I am the biggest fan of,” Trump said at the time.

The White House on Tuesday called furor over the demolition “manufactured outrage” and called the ballroom a “bold and necessary addition that echoes the rich history of improvements and additions” made by previous presidents.

The Treasury Department this week banned its staff from sharing photos of the East Wing, calling it a potential security risk. The department is located next to the White House with a clear view of the demolition work.

Trump said he and private donors would cover the costs of the ballroom. But it’s still unclear who all the contributors are and how much they agreed to pay for the project.

“The White House Ballroom is privately funded by many generous patriots, major corporate America, and yours truly,” the president said in a post on his social media platform Truth Social on Monday.

Tech giant Alphabet is providing $22 million to help build the ballroom as part of a legal settlement reached with Trump last month following his ban from the company’s YouTube platform following the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol by his supporters.

Google parent company Alphabet’s contribution in the form of the settlement, which was entered in federal court in Oakland, California, represents nearly 10 percent of the estimated construction costs.

The settlement says the $22 million will be paid on Trump’s behalf “to the Trust for the National Mall, a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt entity dedicated to the restoration, preservation and elevation of the National Mall, to support the construction of the White House State Ballroom.”

Lockheed-Martin confirmed to CNBC that she was contributing to the project, but declined to disclose the amount of her donation.

“Lockheed Martin is grateful for the opportunity to help bring the President’s vision to life and make this addition to the People’s House a powerful symbol of the American ideals we uphold every day,” a company spokesperson said.

Sources told CBS News in September that RJ Reynolds, Booz Allen Hamilton, Palantir And NextEra Energy also made a donation. CNBC has requested comment from these companies.

Comcastthe current parent company of CNBC, was on the ballroom’s list of major donors. It’s unclear how much Comcast contributes. CNBC will spin off from Comcast before the end of this year under a new parent company, Versant.

Trump chose McCrery Architects to design the ballroom. The construction team is led by Clark Construction and the engineering team is led by AECOM, the White House announced in July.