DONALD Trump has started tearing down the White House’s East Wing to make way for a fresh $250 million ballroom.
The lavish renovation plans involve building a 25,000 square feet space to host state dinners and other black-tie events.
Reports suggest it will house crystal chandeliers, gilded columns and gold inlays.
The opulent designs, reminiscent of the the president’s Mar-a-Lago resort, are supposedly privately funded.
Donors include Apple and Google, Lockheed Martin, and telecom provider, T-Mobile.
Trump has insisted a ballroom of this scale has been sought after for 150 years and that the existing 200-person capacity room is too small.
He also said he does not like the idea of hosting kings, queens, presidents and prime ministers in pavilions on the South Lawn.
The addition of a massive 90,000-square-foot, glass-walled space, he insisted, was necessary.
The ballroom will be the biggest structural change to the Executive Mansion since the addition of the Truman Balcony overlooking the South Lawn in 1948, even dwarfing the building itself.
At a dinner he hosted last week for some of the wealthy business executives helping fund the construction cost, Trump said the project had grown in size and now will accommodate 999 people.
The capacity was 650 seated people at the July announcement.
The clearing of trees on the south grounds and other site preparation work started in September.
Plans call for the ballroom to be ready before Trump’s term ends in January 2029.
The president has steam-rolled ahead with the project – tearing down walls and collapsing windows – despite not receiving planning approval.
Dramatic photos of the demolition work showed a backhoe tearing into the facade and windows and other building parts in tatters on the ground.
Trump previously mentioned the construction in a social media post but insisted only part of the building would be touched.
He said: “It won’t interfere with the current building,’ the president said at the time.
“It’ll 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.”
His press secretary Karoline Leavitt added only “necessary construction” would take place.
She also reassured locals the East Wing only planned to be “modernized”.
Nothing will be torn down, Leavitt said when she announced the project in July.
The East Wing houses several offices, including the office of the first lady.
It was constructed in 1902 and has been renovated over the years, and a second story was added in 1942, according to the White House.
