Trump says he’ll donate “millions” to White House ballroom as East Wing demolition appears to be complete

Washington — The entire White House East Wing has now largely been demolished, satellite imagery shows, after the White House said President Trump doesn’t need to seek approval to tear it down. 

A new satellite image below from Planet Labs PBC shows some rubble where the East Wing used to stand, after demolition of the structure only began earlier this week. 

The president on Thursday said he plans to give “millions of dollars” of his own money to the project, but he declined to offer a specific figure when he was asked about it by reporters.

The move to raze the East Wing — as well as the rapidity of its destruction — came as a surprise to many, after the president had previously said in July the current White House structure would be untouched. 

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Thursday that the president doesn’t need approval for demolition — only for “vertical construction” —  citing a previous legal opinion from the National Capital Planning Commission. The commission is a federal agency that provides planning policies and reviews of development proposals aimed at preserving the architecture of the nation’s capital, although its operations have been affected by the ongoing government shutdown. It has no authority to stop the ballroom project.

“Their general counsel has said when it comes to Phase 1 of this project, the tearing down of the current East Wing structure, a submission is not required legally for that,” Leavitt said. “Only for vertical construction will a submission be required, and that’s a legal opinion from them, and we are following that legal opinion.”

Leavitt said the legal opinion that the president can demolish parts of the White House without approval is one the planning commission has held for many years. CBS News has requested the legal opinion she cited.

She also maintained the White House has been “transparent” about the ballroom project. 

“The president has been incredibly transparent,” Leavitt said Thursday. “I would reject any notion otherwise, when it comes to this ballroom project.”

On Wednesday, Mr. Trump said the ballroom, which he says is entirely privately funded, would cost $300 million, up from the $200 million figure White House officials initially cited. On Thursday, he repeated that the price tag would be “in the neighborhood” of $300 million and added that the donations have exceeded its cost — estimating “I think $350 million” in donations so far. 

The White House has also mentioned other presidents who undertook major construction projects at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, and published a timeline that trolls some of Mr. Trump’s Democratic predecessors.