White House says it will submit ballroom plans for review, with demolition already under way

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By Jeff Mason and Nandita Bose

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The White House said on Tuesday it will submit plans for President Donald Trump’s $250 million White House ballroom project to a body that oversees federal building construction, even though demolition work began earlier this week.

Trump reveled on Tuesday in the demolition sounds by construction workers for the ballroom addition to the White House, the first major change to the historic property in decades.

But critics, aghast about images of the White House walls crumbling after Trump had pledged the project would not interfere with the existing landmark, said a review process should have taken place before the work began.

The White House still intends to submit those plans to the National Capital Planning Commission, which oversees federal construction in Washington and neighboring states, a White House official told Reuters.

“Construction plans have not yet been submitted to the National Capital Planning Commission but will be soon,” the official said, adding that the NCPC does not have jurisdiction over demolition work.

Asked why the demolition of East Wing walls was occurring despite Trump’s promise that it would not affect the existing building, the official said modernization work was required in the East Wing and changes had always been a possibility.

“The scope and size was always subject to vary as the project developed,” he said.

Trump, a former New York real estate magnate who has made changes to the Oval Office, Rose Garden and other parts of the executive mansion complex since taking office in January, has long wanted to build a ballroom to host larger gatherings. Trump has said it will be paid for by himself and donors, allowing him to avoid seeking congressionally appropriated government funds but raising questions about possible conflicts of interest.

Bryan Green, who served as an NCPC commissioner under Democratic President Joe Biden, said demolition work was connected to the ballroom project.

“Demolition really cannot be separated from the new construction that follows,” he said. “These are linked.”

A tennis pavilion on White House grounds completed during Trump’s first term went through a review process with the NCPC and the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, Green noted.

Doing the same kind of review this time would have avoided the shock that many observers felt this week when the demolition began unannounced on Monday. Trump later said ground had been broken on the project after images of the demolition started circulating in news reports.

“You don’t have the image of a wrecking ball hitting the president’s house, one of the most important buildings in our country, by surprise to everyone except a small handful of people,” Green said.

Trump’s White House dismissed criticism, calling it “manufactured outrage.” It pointed to additions and renovations that have been made to the executive mansion and its grounds by presidents from Theodore Roosevelt to Bill Clinton.

‘IT REMINDS ME OF MONEY’

Loud banging from the East Wing demolition caught the attention of tourists walking past the south lawn of the White House on Tuesday, causing several people to stop briefly to see demolition excavators tearing down the roof.

“I think it’s a total waste of money and shows a complete lack of respect for historic buildings in our nation’s capital, but it’s totally not surprising. I am having PTSD from my bathroom remodel,” said Catheryn Koss, 52, from California. “I thought they said they were going to preserve it.”

Several prominent Democrats also voiced disapproval.

“It’s not his house. It’s your house. And he’s destroying it,” former first lady and Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton said on X.

There has been some ambiguity about which entities have jurisdiction over the project.

Priya Jain, who chairs a heritage conservation committee at the Society of Architectural Historians, which has expressed concern about the work, said the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 normally requires reviews for projects that affect historic buildings.

But a carve-out for the White House, the U.S. Capitol and the Supreme Court and their grounds meant Trump’s project was exempt.

“We have best practices (on) how to do this, and it would have been nice to see some of that process, even if it was not required by law,” she said.

The U.S. Treasury, which sits adjacent to the White House, confirmed that it directed its employees not to share pictures of the construction site.

“Carelessly shared photographs of the White House complex during this process could potentially reveal sensitive items, including security features or confidential structural details,” a spokesperson said.

The White House’s East Wing sits on top of the Presidential Emergency Operations Center, a bunker the president would use in a wartime scenario. It is unclear how the facility is being impacted.

Speaking to Republican lawmakers gathered in the White House Rose Garden on Tuesday, Trump noted the noises of demolition work coming from the other side of the grounds.

“You probably hear the beautiful sound of construction to the back,” he said, sighing approvingly. “That’s music to my ears. I love that sound. Other people don’t like it. … When I hear that sound it reminds me of money.”

(Reporting by Jeff Mason, Nandita Bose, Courtney Rozen, Trevor Hunnicutt, and Jessica Koscielniak; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Leslie Adler)