On Monday the demolition work of the East wing of the White House began, where a new ballroom will be built by President Donald Trump. The intervention, one of the most extensive of the last decades on the presidential complex, will significantly change the structure of the building, which will almost double its overall surface.
According to the president himself, the new hall will be about 8,300 square meters, will have a maximum capacity of 650 seats (according to Trump 999 people [sic!]) and an estimated cost of over 250 million dollars. Trump argued that the intervention will not interfere with the activities of the main building, although the partial reduction of the East wing and the breadth of the project leave more than a few doubts.
In recent years, Trump has wanted to renovate various interiors, including the Oval Studio and the Cabinet Room, and has introduced new elements also in outdoor spaces such as the Rose Garden. The most obvious changes concern above all the massive use of gold inserts and ornamental decorations, often taken from newspapers in different comparisons with past presidencies. In parallel, Trump promoted renovation works in other Washington’s symbolic buildings, such as the Kennedy Center, and manifested his intention to build a monumental arch inspired by the Arc de Triomphe on the other side of the Potomac – later renamed by the press “Arc de Trump”.
In foto: il camino dello Studio Ovale nel 2021
In foto: il camino dello Studio Ovale nel 2025
The decision to implement the ballroom has provoked discussions on how to finance the project. The totality of funds, according to the administration, will come from private contributions, collected during a dinner organized by the president with several company executives including Apple, Amazon, Lockheed Martin and Coinbase. According to some public ethics experts, this could represent an additional privileged access channel for entrepreneurs and financiers able to influence the White House’s political agenda.
From the functional point of view, the East wing is traditionally associated with the offices and activities of the first lady and the demolition operations have therefore resulted in the temporary transfer of part of Melania Trump staff to other areas of the complex.
The construction of monumental or representative spaces is a novelty in the history of the White House. To go back to Harry Truman’s presidency, when the internal structure of the west wing was completely rebuilt between 1948 and 1952, the main building and seat of the government’s staff offices for security reasons. Since then, renovations had been limited to maintenance and restoration.
Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed his experience as a part of his approach to politics. In the 1980s he was the protagonist of major demolitions in New York, including the Bonwit Teller Palace on Fifth Avenue, then replaced by the Trump Tower. The present project at the White House represents a continuation of that vision, extended for the first time to the most famous symbol of US presidential power.
L’articolo The work began at the White House for Trump’s ballroom proviene da IlNewyorkese.
