Since President Trump’s return to office, he has made countless changes to the country, mostly in the form of executive orders. While these executive orders, which include reduced funding for education and raising tariffs, have made significant changes to the country, one of the most memorable changes the president has made since his inauguration has been his demolition of the historic East Wing in the White House.
The East Wing is a building home to several offices, including the first lady’s. For over 100 years, first ladies have worked in the East Wing to launch their initiatives. It has long been a place that the first lady has called her own. However, to make room for President Trump’s 300 million dollar gold-studded ballroom, the East Wing has been destroyed.
The demolition has been deemed a “symbolic blow” to the building’s legacy as the site of many historic moments by women, according to policy director to Michelle Obama, Krish O’Mara Vignarajah. Terra Linda senior, Mia Schlotman, said “I feel like Trump is not the kind of person who cares about protecting women’s history and celebrating what they have done. So it’s not surprising that he wouldn’t want to protect something that celebrates the work these women have done.” The East Wing has long been the place where first ladies have worked to make change. From Nancy Reagan’s “Just Say No” campaign to discourage the use of illegal drugs to Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” initiative to combat child obesity, countless initiatives have been launched from this space. Now, with the demolition of the East Wing, this history is gone, and the first lady no longer has a space to call her own.
The president has made many changes to the White House over the past few months, including paving over the Rose Garden to make room for a Rose Garden Club; adorning the normally modest Oval Office with gold accents; and installing a presidential portrait gallery. This gallery omits Joe Biden’s photo, replacing the former president with an autopen signing his name. And while each one of these changes has greatly impacted the White House, the demolition of the East Wing marks a historic moment, as the new ballroom will be the largest change to the building since the 1940’s.
The president and his team have made efforts to downplay the magnitude of the demolition, with White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt claiming, “Nearly every single president who has lived in this beautiful White House… has made modernizations and renovations of their own.” Additionally, the president has made sure the American people know that private donors are fully funding the construction project. In a social media announcement, the president said the project will be funded “with zero cost to the American Taxpayer! The White House Ballroom is being privately funded by many generous Patriots, Great American Companies, and, yours truly.” While this may comfort many citizens who were worried about the use of public funds for the construction, the East Wing had an invaluable historical legacy that money simply cannot buy.
That legacy is now erased with a ballroom the president has called a “great legacy project” and a “monument to the country’s greatness.” The 90,000-square-foot ballroom will accommodate almost 1,000 people, and will dwarf the Executive Mansion.
President Trump has signaled that his pattern of demolition and construction will continue throughout his term. A few weeks ago, he unveiled to ballroom donors plans to build a ceremonial arch just outside Washington, using the Arc de Triomphe in Paris as inspiration. Although future construction seems inevitable, many Americans are hoping that the next project will not come at the expense of a historical landmark.
