East Wing Demolished; $300M Ballroom, Donors Named

Crews demolished the White House East Wing this week to make way for a roughly 90,000-square-foot ballroom President Trump says will be privately funded and cost about $300 million. The White House published a donor list that media say includes dozens of executives and firms — naming Google, YouTube, Amazon, Microsoft, Nvidia, Coinbase and Ripple — but individual contribution amounts were not disclosed. The abrupt demolition and changes in the project’s scope, including rising estimated costs, have provoked surprise and criticism from historians, preservationists and the public, with images of rubble amplifying backlash. A YouGov poll reported by Audacy found most Americans disapprove overall, with heavy Democratic opposition and a plurality of Republicans approving. Opponents say the spectacle distracts from the ongoing government shutdown and economic strains on constituents, while the administration defends the effort as necessary modernization and calls critics’ objections “manufactured outrage.” Officials say the teardown removed historic interior features — including the 42-seat White House movie theater — which they plan to renovate as part of the project.