First Lady Melania Trump has privately expressed concerns about President Donald Trump’s controversial demolition of the White House East Wing, distancing herself from the massive construction project that has sparked nationwide criticism, according to The Wall Street Journal report.
The first lady privately raised concerns about tearing down the East Wing and told associates it was not her project, administration officials revealed to the newspaper. The historic wing, which traditionally housed the Office of the First Lady, the East Colonnade, and the Jacqueline Kennedy Garden, was reduced to rubble in just a few days to make way for a sprawling 90,000-square-foot ballroom capable of accommodating 1,000 standing guests or 650 seated.
Melania has maintained complete public silence on the demolition of the space where she and her staff once worked during her husband’s first term. Her reluctance to endorse the project stands in stark contrast to earlier White House renovations, which sources said were done collaboratively with the first lady. During the president’s first term, modifications like the paving of the Rose Garden were reportedly completed with Melania’s support.
The East Wing held particular significance for Melania, serving as the focal point for her Christmas-related activities during the previous administration. In 2018, she installed 40 controversial blood-red trees in the East Colonnade, while the traditional Gold Star Family Tree honoring fallen military service members stood at the wing’s entry.
The demolition has drawn criticism from multiple quarters, including Stephanie Grisham, who served as Melania’s chief of staff during Trump’s first term. Speaking on CNN’s OutFront, Grisham indicated the destruction breaks her heart and expressed concern about the irreversible nature of the damage. She emphasized that the project bypassed standard approval processes and was executed with unusual speed, stating she never expected the wing to be demolished like a condemned house over approximately three days.
Trump has harbored ambitions for a grand White House ballroom for at least 15 years. In 2010, during Barack Obama’s presidency, Trump called Democratic strategist David Axelrod to pitch the concept. According to Axelrod, Trump said, “You have these state dinners in **** little tents,” and offered to show the strategist his Florida ballrooms as examples. Axelrod recalled responding that the country was in the middle of a recession, and the idea stalled.
During his first term, Trump wanted to construct the ballroom but was hampered by other projects, including redoing the White House sports complex that Obama had installed. Instead, he had a tennis pavilion built in 2020 to expand the existing area.
Upon returning to office for his second term, Trump moved swiftly to advance the ballroom plans. In July 2025, his administration terminated three Biden appointees from the 12-person National Capital Planning Commission, the board overseeing White House construction. Trump then installed loyal board members who swiftly approved the ballroom design, allowing the project to speed through what is typically a lengthy approval process.
The project’s estimated cost has ballooned from 200 million dollars to 400 million dollars, with Trump claiming private donations will fund the construction work after initially stating he would pay for it himself. The ballroom’s capacity has also expanded.
On October 21, 2025, the National Trust for Historic Preservation sent a letter to the White House urging Trump to pause demolition until plans could be reviewed. The organization expressed deep concern that the proposed construction’s massing and height would overwhelm the White House itself and potentially disrupt the carefully balanced classical design of the executive mansion with its two smaller, lower wings.
The East Wing’s teardown occurred amid a lengthy government shutdown requiring hundreds of thousands of federal workers, including air traffic controllers and TSA agents, to work without pay. The destruction is now visible from space, with excavators clearing piles of drywall, windows, insulation, wires, rubble, and debris from the White House lawn.
White House spokesman Davis Ingle defended the project, stating that President Trump is working around the clock to beautify the White House at no taxpayer expense, adding that these long-needed upgrades will benefit generations of future presidents and American visitors to the People’s House.
The project cleared a significant legal hurdle on February 26, 2026, when U.S. District Judge Richard Leon rejected the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s bid to halt construction, ruling the group was unlikely to succeed on the merits — though he left the door open for an amended lawsuit challenging Trump’s use of private funding without congressional approval. On the regulatory front, the Commission of Fine Arts unanimously approved the renovation on February 19, while the National Capital Planning Commission is set to hold a public hearing on March 5, with written comments due March 4.
The project continues to face criticism over its ornate design, the lack of public review before demolition, pending asbestos safety litigation from the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization, and broader questions about bypassing Congress to fund a $400 million overhaul of a national landmark with private money.
Despite the controversy, the administration says above-ground construction could begin as early as April, with plans to have the ballroom completed before the end of Trump’s term.
