Trump demolishes part of White House for new ballroom

A mechanical excavator had ripped through the facade of the East Wing, leaving a tangle of broken masonry, rubble and steel wires, AFP journalists at the scene saw.

Republican Trump said as he hosted college baseball players at the White House on Monday that "right on the other side you have a lot of construction that you might hear occasionally."

The 79-year-old billionaire later officially announced that work had started on the ballroom, the biggest addition to the US presidential mansion in more than a century.

"I am pleased to announce that ground has been broken on the White House grounds to build the new, big, beautiful White House Ballroom," Trump said on his Truth Social network.

Trump said the East Wing was being "fully modernized as part of this process, and will be more beautiful than ever when it is complete!"

The East Wing is where US first ladies have traditionally had their offices. The president works in the West Wing and the couple live in the Executive Mansion.

- 'Generous Patriots' -

But while Trump said that the East Wing is "completely separate from the White House itself," it is in fact physically joined to the main mansion by a covered colonnade.

Trump says the new 90,000-square-foot ballroom with a capacity of 1,000 people is needed to host large state dinners and other events that currently have to be held in a tent.

The former reality TV star held a glitzy dinner at the White House last week for donors to the ballroom. 

The guests included representatives from tech firms like Amazon, Apple, Meta, Google, Microsoft and Palantir and defense giant Lockheed Martin -- all companies with significant contracts or other dealings with the government.

They also included twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, the founders of crypto platform Gemini, who were made famous as jilted investors in the movie "The Social Network" about the birth of Facebook.

"The White House Ballroom is being privately funded by many generous Patriots, Great American Companies, and, yours truly. This Ballroom will be happily used for Generations to come!" he said on Monday.

It is the largest part of the huge makeover Trump has given the White House since returning to power in January, including covering the Oval Office with gold decor and paving over the Rose Garden.

Trump has also unveiled plans for a huge triumphal arch in Washington, which was dubbed the "Arc de Trump" after AFP first revealed the proposal.

dk/aha