WASHINGTON — Construction officially began on Monday for President Donald Trump’s project to build a new ballroom at the White House, according to an administration official.
The development comes after Trump initially said the project “won’t interfere with the current building” back in July.
“It’ll be near it, but not touching it, and pays total respect to the existing building, which I’m the biggest fan of,” Trump said at the time.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from FWRD AXIS News for clarification after Trump’s comments in July.
The Washington Post was first to report on the demolition.
“I didn’t know I’d be standing here right now, because right on the other side, you have a lot of construction going on, which you might hear periodically,” Trump said of the demolition.
The East Wing is connected to and part of the White House complex. It has been used in the past by the first lady and her staff.
Later on Truth Social, Trump said construction was “the new, big, beautiful White House Ballroom,” which he said was “completely separate from the White House itself.”
He has said he will help pay for the White House project, with the help of private donors. The price tag was initially estimated at $200 million.
The construction news comes as the government shutdown reached its 20th day. The House is expected to remain away from Washington this week as GOP leaders continue to blame Democrats for the shutdown.
At a press conference at the Capitol, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said his Republican colleagues are “divorced from reality.”
“And [they] have continued to function as nothing more than wholly owned subsidiaries of Donald Trump and his extreme administration,” he said in response to a question about the Republicans’ strategy. “Republicans have done nothing to make life better for the American people.”
