President Donald Trump is hell bent on remaking the White House in his image—even if that comes at the expense of over a century of history in the building’s East Wing, which is set to be razed entirely in the coming days.
Trump started demolishing historic spaces on Monday to make room for his massive new ballroom, breaking a vow he made this summer to leave the White House as it is during construction of his pet project.
Now, Trump is set to tear down every last structure in the East Wing.
Flattened: Office of the First Lady
Among the offices flattened was the Office of the First Lady, where the likes of Jill Biden, Michelle Obama, Laura Bush, Hillary Clinton, and their predecessors spent hundreds, if not thousands, of days working inside the East Wing.
The office’s destruction came without warning from the Trump administration, as the president had said in July that the construction of his mega ballroom would not “interfere with the current building.” That turned out to be untrue, and he celebrated its destruction on Monday, saying the sound of the East Wing’s demolition was “music to my ears.”
Former President Jimmy Carter’s wife, Rosalynn, was the first presidential spouse to have a paid staff and work out of the now-historic Office of the First Lady in 1978.
The office’s final tenant, Melania Trump, was frequently absent from the East Wing during much of her husband’s first term. She has not been a frequent face in MAGA 2.0 either, spending just 14 days at the White House during Trump’s first 108 days back in office. Along with her staff, whose offices were also demolished, Melania will now work out of the White House residence and the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.
Erased: Historic Hallway
The East Colonnade remains standing as of Wednesday, but not for long. The historic walkway—which connects the East Wing to the Executive Residence—is expected to be razed by the week’s end, as White House officials say that the “entirety” of the East Wing will be “modernized and rebuilt,” including the hallway.
That means the East Colonnade—if it is rebuilt at all—is getting a MAGA facelift. The corridor, which American presidents have traversed since the East Wing was built in 1902, was also where Melania Trump infamously displayed her spooky red Christmas trees in 2018, during the first Trump administration.
The corridor has a simple, timeless style—large windows facing the south lawn that welcome natural light to illuminate a white wall that is typically filled with photos hanging in frames. While Trump has not revealed a specific plan for the space, his gaudy makeover of the Oval Office, complete with golden trinkets and trophies, suggests a significant change is coming.
Lights Out: The Family Theater
Like the East Colonnade, the famed Family Theater of the East Wing remains standing for now—but it, too, will be subjected to demolition in the coming days or weeks. The iconic space has hosted presidential families since the 1940s, as well as celebrity guests like Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, who both attended a screening of The Pacific miniseries in the theater with President Barack Obama in 2010.
The theater was constructed during a renovation in 1942 under President Franklin D. Roosevelt during World War II. It has been used by each president since. That includes Trump, who wasted no time logging his first screening—to watch Finding Dory—just a week into his first term in 2017.
The East Wing’s iconic facade, as well as the eastern entrance to the White House, was turned to rubble. Photographers camped out at the adjacent Treasury Department captured an excavator tearing walls clean off the building—a historic fixture of the White House, where celebrities, dignitaries, and foreign leaders once entered the building—now gone forever.
The “Booksellers Hall” in the East Wing has remained untouched so far, but is also set to be razed. It has long played host to arriving attendees of state dinners and formal receptions, including Jeff Bezos and his then-fiancée, Lauren Sanchez, last spring.
Socialites, politicians, and billionaires will not be the only ones likely to miss the space. The East Wing’s entrance was home to the White House Visitor’s Office, making it the starting point for the hundreds of thousands of D.C. tourists who tour the White House each year. Lawmakers, who facilitate the distribution of tickets to their constituents, have said that the White House is closed for tours “indefinitely.”
Closed: Farewell to The Gift Shop
With the White House officially closed to tours, the adjoining gift shop—while not yet bulldozed—has been shuttered indefinitely, too. Trump visited the gift shop in August, and photos show that a digitally altered image of his face—showing an American flag imposed over his stoic headshot—now hangs from the wall.
The gift shop was established in 1946, originally as the “White House Flower Fund” created by Roosevelt’s administration to support bereaved Secret Service families. It has evolved to sell a wide range of presidential memorabilia, souvenirs, and collectibles, and is now—surprisingly, to many—privately owned and operated.
Shuttered: Iconic Photo Spots
At the very edge of the East Wing, between the residence and the East Colonnade, is the oft-photographed East Garden Room—another historic White House room that will soon cease to exist. It is where visitors to the White House typically pose for pictures before entering the residence through the East Wing.
And There’s More...
Other offices in the East Wing due to be destroyed are the Office of Legislative Affairs, the White House Military Office, White House Calligrapher’s Office, and a conference room.
The East Wing’s destruction—and the building of Trump’s ballroom, which is not expected to finish construction until 2029—is the most significant change to the White House in its modern history.
On Wednesday, Trump told reporters that the cost of the project was now expected to hit $300 million, up from the initial $200 million figure.
“In order to do it properly, we had to take down the existing structure,” he said. “You know, the East Wing was not much. It was not much left from the original. It was, over the course of 100 years, it was changed, the columns were removed, it was a much different building. Then a story was added on in 1948, 1949. There was a story added on which was not particularly nice.”
He continued, “The building was very, very much changed from what it was originally. It was never thought of as being much. It was a very small building.”
Trump said the final bill for what he said would be “one of the great ballrooms anywhere in the world” would be paid “100 percent by me and some friends of mine.”
