The East Wing of the White House No Longer Exists

By: Miriam Edelman

The East Wing of the White House was demolished, as of October 23, 2025, and will be replaced in part by President Donald Trump’s new approximately $300 million, 90,000-square foot ballroom. In contrast, the old East Wing was 12,000 square feet. According to James McDaniel, the National Park Service’s former White House liaison, the East Wing “represented the nonpolitical side, the softer side of White House operations.” He also remarked, “[y]ou feel the presence of the presidents and first ladies who have gone through there and lived throughout history.” Town & Country reported that the 123-year old East Wing “has long served as the public’s main gateway into the executive mansion.” The East Wing also symbolized First Ladies, as the Office of the First Lady was there. Portraits of First Ladies were located in the East Wing’s lobby.

East Wing

The East Wing dates back to the U.S.’s third President, Thomas Jefferson. During the early 1800’s, Jefferson added the East and West Terraces, covered walks that linked the White House to other buildings. After the East Terrace was destroyed in 1866, it was rebuilt in 1902 when President Theodore Roosevelt renovated the White House.

The East Wing was built in 1942. President Franklin D. Roosevelt wanted this structure to have more office space and to hide the newly-constructed underground bunker. According to the White House Historical Society (WHHS), the East Wing was controversial because the U.S. was at war. Congressional Republicans thought that the East Wing was wasteful, and some of them accused Roosevelt of trying to improve his image through the East Wing. In addition, the WHHS wrote, “the secretive nature of the construction, tied to military purposes, further fueled suspicions.” Roosevelt said that the East Wing was crucial for national security.

In the mid-1900s, the East Wing became the “modern home of the First Lady’s staff.” Eleanor Roosevelt held meetings there. When Rosalynn Carter was First Lady during the 1970s, the East Wing became the Office of the First Lady. Before then, First Ladies typically worked from the White House’s Residence. However, when Melania Trump was First Lady from 2017 through 2021, she did not utilize her East Wing office. Instead, Author Kate Anderson Brower said that the office “was so, basically, vacant that her staff had it as a gift-wrapping room and had gifts put in there.”

Until it was demolished, the East Wing also served other purposes. It was the public entrance of the White House. A movie theater and offices of legislative affairs, the military, and calligraphers were in the East Wing. The East Wing also was the location of the White House Social Office and the place where major events were planned. The East Wing’s bunker, which was referred to as the Presidential Emergency Operations Center, was where Vice President Dick Cheney was brought to on September 11, 2001, and where Trump was taken on January 6, 2021.

Destruction of the East Wing

Although Trump said in July 2025 that the White House would not be dismantled for the new ballroom, the Trump Administration demolished the East Wing. The New York Times reported that Trump Administration employees “now say it is cheaper and more structurally sound to simply demolish the East Wing.” Trump said the East Wing “was never thought of as being much” and “was a very small building.” According to Trump, “[i]n order to do it [ballroom] properly, we had to take down the existing structure [East Wing].”

On October 21, 2025, the White House issued an article, entitled “White House Ballroom Continues Proud Presidential Legacy.” The article began:

“In the latest instance of manufactured outrage, unhinged leftists and their Fake News allies are clutching their pearls over President Donald J. Trump’s visionary addition of a grand, privately funded ballroom to the White House — a bold, necessary addition that echoes the storied history of improvements and additions from commanders-in-chief to keep the executive residence as a beacon of American excellence.”

After discussing White House renovations of prior Presidents of both major political parties, the article said “Now, in 2025, President Trump is carrying forward that legacy, breaking ground on a grand ballroom — a transformative addition that will significantly increase the White House’s capacity to host major functions honoring world leaders, foreign nations, and other dignitaries.”

The new structure will never be the old one. As Martha Joynt Kumar, a political scientist and professor emeritus at Towson University in Maryland, said “They’re wrecking it [the old East Wing].” She added “[a]nd these are changes that can’t be undone. They’re destroying that history forever.”

The demolition of the East Wing occurred in just four days during the federal government shutdown that began in October 2025. The Jacqueline Kennedy Garden and the East Colonnade were also demolished. In addition, two magnolia trees commemorating Presidents Warren G. Harding and Franklin D. Roosevelt were removed.

The demolition of the East Wing was cloaked in some secrecy, causing criticism about the Trump Administration’s “lack of transparency.” Although the Trump Administration blocked the public from seeing much, thousands of people went to witness the destruction. The Trump Administration ordered workers of the Treasury Department next door not to share photographs. It also tried to prevent journalists from making videos of the destruction.

Reactions to the Demolition of the East Wing

Democratic Members of Congress wrote to Trump Administration, expressing outrage about the demolition and the planned ballroom. On October 23, 2025, House Natural Resources Committee’s Ranking Member Jared Huffman, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s Ranking Member Robert Garcia, and House Natural Resources Committee’s Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee’s Ranking Member Yassamin Ansari wrote a letter to Trump

“regarding the construction of a new $250 million ballroom reportedly underway at the White House complex during the ongoing government shutdown, including the demolition of portions of the historic East Wing. These developments raise serious concerns about transparency, funding priorities, the physical integrity of the White House, and the ethical integrity of the Administration it houses.”

On the same day, the House Appropriations’ Committee’s Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Subcommittee’s Ranking Member Chellie Pingree (D-ME) wrote a letter to Trump:

“to demand that you immediately cease construction activities related to a new ballroom at the White House. You have brazenly begun demolition without the legally required approval of several government agencies. Your actions are irreparably destroying a historic portion of one of America’s most recognizable landmarks and a symbol of our democracy.”

Pingree also said, “[i]t is the ‘People’s House.’ It doesn’t belong to him.” She also said, “[i]f Barack Obama or Joe Biden had started taking a backhoe to the White House, they [Republicans] would have had a heart attack.” When Obama was in office, there was outrage about Obama’s wearing a tan suit at a press conference on August 28, 2014. At that time, Representative Peter King (R-NY) remarked, “He looked like he was on his way to a party at the Hamptons.” The negative opinions if Obama had done anything close to Trump literally destroying part of the White House would have been much more severe.

Former White House employees were surprised and upset about this news. Penny Adams, who worked for First Lady Pat Nixon on radio and television, said, “I literally [cried] as I would see my old office window.” Adams added, “[i]t was my office from 1969 to 1973.” Laura Schwartz, the White House director of events for President Bill Clinton, remarked “[t]here was never a day I didn’t catch my breath walking into the East Wing.” She added, “[t]hat’s what makes the loss to me so painful. It’s not just a building. It’s the living history.” Stephanie Grisham, a White House press secretary and Melania Trump’s former Chief of Staff, said, “[i]t was such a breath of fresh air from the West Wing.” Grisham added, “I hate to see that kind of history literally being demolished in front of our eyes.”

Brower reflected on the East Wing’s end. She said, “I think Americans feel such an emotional attachment to the House itself that it’s hard to stomach watching bits of it be gutted and torn down and bulldozed.” She added, “[i]t’s just heartbreaking.” She thought the East Wing’s demolition “speaks a lot to how diminished the role of the president’s spouse has become.”

People near the White House expressed varying opinions about the end of the East Wing. Darlene Alexander, who is retired, said “I feel completely helpless, I can’t stop him from doing whatever he wants.” She added, “I would say I want to cry, but mostly I just feel angry.” John Vittone, a retired attorney said, “It’s the White House, you don’t screw with it. We don’t need Buckingham Palace. We’re different. We’re a republic.” Jeff Sellenrick, a tour guide, said, “The next thing, he’ll [Trump will] want a bigger West Wing to balance the new East Wing. And then he’ll want a throne.” However, Carrie Cornwell, an employee of the California State Senate, remarked “It’s not the end of the world. The president is building an addition. In the future, another president will come along and change it.” In addition, Jamie (whose last name was not given because he does not “want the blowback” from his opinion) said “It’s nice to have a bigger place to celebrate.”

The destruction of the East Wing has been met with public outrage. Recent YouGov polling showed that 53 percent of Americans opposed demolishing a part of the East Wing, 23 percent approved it, and 24 percent was unsure.

Other Recent Changes to the White House

Demolishing the East Wing is only the latest of several changes Trump has made to the White House since becoming the U.S.’s 47^th President. CNN reported, “[m]ultiple sources have said that the president is directly involved with nearly everything that is done to the aesthetic of the White House, big or small. Trump remodeled the Oval Office by adding new portraits, busts, and gold-colored decorations. Trump also added paintings and gold beautifications to the Cabinet Room, which is usually has little art and decorations. Trump paved over the Rose’s Garden grass lawn with concrete and stone tiles and rebranded the new outdoor terrace as “[t]he Rose Garden Club.” Trump thought that the Rose Garden’s grass was not practical for big events because the grass got wet from rain and was too soft. Trump placed new flagpoles on the North and South Lawns. Trump also installed a new Presidential Walk of Fame along the White House's Colonnade. A photograph of an autopen signing President Joe Biden's name takes the place of a portrait of Biden.

In the Entrance Hall, Trump replaced the official White House portrait of Obama with himself. According CNN, Trump moved the Obama portrait and portraits of former Presidents George W. Bush and George H.W. Bush. Members of the general public cannot see the Obama portrait, which is at the private residence’s entrance. These actions about portraits violate White House protocol and precedent, which “calls for portraits of the most recent American presidents to be given the most prominent placement, in the entrance of the executive mansion, visible to guests during official events and visitors on tours.”

Trump also made other changes to the White House during his second term. Trump renovated the Lincoln Bedroom’s bathroom and placed marble floors in a path to the South Lawn.

Final Thoughts

The recent East Wing should never be forgotten. It can be remembered in photographs and our collective memories.