The East Wing of the White House complex was built in 1902 and significantly expanded in 1942. In October 2025, the building was demolished, and plans for a larger wing, to include the new White House State Ballroom, were announced.
The East Wing was connected to the Executive Residence through the East Colonnade, a corridor with windows facing the South Lawn that housed the White House Family Theater and connected to the ground floor of the Executive Residence.
The White House East Entrance in 1899, before the first East Wing construction
President Thomas Jefferson added colonnadedterraces to the east and west sides of the White House, but no actual wings. Under President Andrew Jackson in 1834, running water was piped in from a spring and pumped up into the east terrace in metal tubes. These ran through the walls and protruded into the rooms, controlled by spigots. Initially, the water was for washing items, but soon the first bathing rooms were created, in the ground-level east colonnade. President Martin Van Buren had shower baths installed here.
The East Terrace was removed in 1866. For many years, a greenhouse occupied the east grounds of the White House.
Construction
The original East Wing shortly after its completion in 1902
The first small East Wing was built in 1902 during the Theodore Roosevelt renovations, as an entrance for formal and public visitors. This served mainly as an entrance for guests during large social gatherings, when it was necessary to accommodate many cars and carriages. Its primary feature was the long cloak room with spots for coats and hats of the ladies and gentlemen.[3]
The two-story East Wing was designed by White House architect Lorenzo Winslow and added to the White House in 1942 primarily to cover the construction of an underground bunker, the Presidential Emergency Operations Center (PEOC).[5] Around the same time, Theodore Roosevelt's coatroom was integrated into the new building and became the White House Family Theater.
Operation
Floor plan of the White House with the East Wing on the right from 1942 until October 2025
Later, offices for correspondence, calligraphers and the social secretary were placed in the East Wing.
First Lady Rosalynn Carter, in 1977, was the first to keep her own office in the East Wing.[6][7] The social office prepares all of the invitations and written correspondence for every event held at the White House.[8]
Social and touring visitors to the White House usually entered through the East Wing's Visitors Office, continuing through the wood-paneled lobby, where portraits of presidents and first ladies hung. They continued through the Garden Room and along the East Colonnade, which had a view of the Jacqueline Kennedy Garden, past the theater to the Visitors' Foyer, and then on to the residence with entry made at the ground floor.
The East Wing being demolished on October 21, 2025
In July 2025, the White House released renderings of the planned White House State Ballroom.[9] Initially, the venue was expected to be able to host up to 650 people for events, but that capacity was later revised to 900 people.[10]Clark Construction was awarded the $200 million contract,[11] with work planned to begin in September 2025.[12][13]
On July 31, President Donald Trump had said the new ballroom "won't interfere with the current building", wouldn't be "touching it", and would pay "total respect to the existing building, which I'm the biggest fan of."[14]
The White House curator and her staff removed, catalogued, and stored the East Wing's art and furnishings and worked with the White House Historical Association to document the demolition and to use 3D scanning technology to capture the East Wing in detail prior to the demolition.[15]
Demolition of the East Wing began on October 20,[16] without review by the National Capital Planning Commission, which oversees federal construction.[17][18] On October 21, with unannounced demolition already underway, the National Trust for Historic Preservation objected that a 90,000-square-foot (8,400m2) ballroom would "overwhelm" the 55,000-square-foot (5,100m2) White House and "permanently disrupt the carefully balanced classical design of the White House with its two smaller, and lower, East and West Wings."[19]
An interpretation of the planned new East Wing based on a model from October 2025, laid over the old East Wing demolished that month
On October 22, a White House official told NBC that the "entirety" of the East Wing would eventually be "modernized and rebuilt". The official claimed that the construction plan had never been firm: "The scope and the size of the ballroom project have always been subject to vary as the process develops."[14][17][21]
Later on October 22, Trump told reporters during an Oval Office event, "We determined that after really a tremendous amount of study with some of the best architects in the world, we determined that really knocking it down, trying to use a little section, you know, the East Wing was not much. It was not much left from the original" and "In order to do it properly, we had to take down the existing structure."[22]
The next day, on October 23, photos from the Associated Press showed that the entire East Wing, including the East Colonnade and the White House Family Theater, had been demolished.[23][24][25] Plans have been made to restore the Family Theater so it is "modernized and renovated."[26]
The demolition of the East Wing drew criticism from politicians, historians and White House alumni.[27][28][29] Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer called the demolition a "vanity project",[30] California governor Gavin Newsom compared the demolition to the perception of Trump's policies as "ripping apart the constitution,"[31] while senator Elizabeth Warren criticized Trump for ignoring increasing living costs.[32] Former White House official Elaine Kamarck condemned the demolition as "an abomination".[28]
ACECO, the company in charge of the demolition, received many negative reviews.[33] It took down its website[34] and Instagram page.[35]
In a Fox News interview on October 21, Karoline Leavitt qualified the criticism of the demolition as "fake outrage". At the suggestion of Jesse Watters, she attributed Democrats' attitude to "jealousy". She also claimed, without providing evidence, that President Obama had complained about having hosted a state visit on the South Lawn under a tent. (Obama hosted state dinners there for India, in 2009, and for Italy, in 2016).[36]
A YouGov poll released on October 22 showed that the majority of polled Americans disapproved of the decision to demolish the East Wing, with 53% disapproving and only 24% approving.[37] At least one lawsuit attempted to stop the demolition.[38]
↑ Johnson, Ted (October 23, 2025). "Photos Show Donald Trump's East Wing Demolition Extended To White House Movie Theater". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved October 23, 2025. Photos taken on Thursday appeared to show that the Trump administration has not only torn down the East Wing, but the East Colonnade, which included a movie theater that has hosted screenings for decades. An AP photo showed demolition equipment right up to the main White House, known as the Executive Mansion.
↑ Montgomery, Mimi (October 21, 2025). "Washington furious over Trump's East Wing demo". Axios. Retrieved October 23, 2025. The sight of bulldozers smashing into the White House's East Wing — almost three weeks into a federal shutdown — is sending shockwaves among certain circles in Washington, with some wondering: Is this even allowed?
1 2 Smith, David (October 23, 2025). "Trump's ballroom blitz sparks chorus of disgust: 'The perfect symbol.'". The Guardian. ISSN0261-3077. Retrieved October 23, 2025. Obama once joked about what a gaudy Trump White House would look like – the president seems bent on proving him right[.] (...) The image of broken masonry, rubble and steel wires at America's most famous address was reminiscent of a disaster movie and struck a chord even among people who have become accustomed to shrugging off Trump's outrageous antics. White House alumni and presidential historians led the chorus of disgust. (...)
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