Satellite images show White House East Wing demolished for Trump’s $300 million ballroom

The entire East Wing of the White House has been demolished to make way for US President Donald Trump’s new $300 million ballroom. Satellite images shared with AFP by Planet Labs PBC show that the area where the East Wing once stood is now a grey and brown expanse of rubble.The demolition work was completed as the White House released a list of donors contributing to the ballroom project. The President stated that the new structure would be funded entirely by private donors and by himself. On Thursday, the White House published a list of contributors, which included US technology giants Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta, and Palantir, as well as defence contractor Lockheed Martin.

Individual donors include the family of Trump’s Commerce Secretary, Howard Lutnick, along with twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, who gained fame as investors portrayed in the film The Social Networkabout Facebook’s founding.

“How much am I donating? I won’t be able to tell you until it’s finished. I’ll donate whatever’s needed, I’ll tell you that,” Trump told reporters on Thursday.

The move has drawn strong criticism from Democrats and historic preservation groups. As backlash over the destruction grew, the White House Historical Association — an independent organisation that helps preserve the history of the presidential residence — said it had been assisting with preservation efforts.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation voiced concerns that the 90,000-square-foot ballroom would “overwhelm the White House itself”. On X, former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton wrote, “It’s not his house. It’s your house. And he’s destroying it.”

The White House defended its decision to demolish the East Wing, saying that an official name for the new addition is still being decided. Speaking to reporters, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that the project’s price tag had risen from $250 million to $300 million but insisted that the President and “generous patriots” were covering all costs.

In a post on X on Thursday, Leavitt wrote: “By building this beautiful and much-needed ballroom, President Trump is ensuring that the People’s House will continue to serve the American people and their presidents for centuries to come!”

Trump announced the start of construction on social media and mentioned it during a visit with the 2025 collegiate baseball champions, Louisiana State University and LSU–Shreveport, in the East Room.

“We have a lot of construction going on, which you might hear periodically. It just started today,” he said. Trump described the ballroom as “beautiful, like I have at Mar-a-Lago,” and reiterated that it would be privately funded by donors and companies, costing taxpayers nothing.