President Trump has stirred controversy with his plan to build a new ballroom at the White House. After surprise photos emerged this week of crews demolishing part of the East Wing to make way for Trump’s $300 million, privately funded, 90,000-square-foot structure, Democrats accused him of “destroying” the White House in a way that, as Sen. Mazie Hirono wrote on X, is “very symbolic of what [he] is doing to our democracy.”
In response, the administration defended Trump’s pet project as a “bold, necessary addition that echoes the storied history of improvements and renovations from commanders-in-chief to keep the executive residence as a beacon of American excellence.” The administration has also said the “entirety of the East Wing will be modernized” as part of the process.
On Wednesday, the New York Times reported that Trump now plans to tear down the entire East Wing “by this weekend,” citing a senior administration official. The president previously said that construction wouldn’t “interfere with the current building.”
The facade of the East Wing of the White House being demolished on Oct. 21. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
So how does the president’s new ballroom actually compare with past White House projects? Here’s a timeline of all the major changes his predecessors have made — including how long they took to complete and how much they cost.
2025 to 2029: Construction of a new ‘State Ballroom’ addition to the East Wing under President Donald Trump
A model of the White House and proposed ballroom. (John McDonnell/AP)
Scope: To put a 90,000-square-foot ballroom in perspective, the original White House footprint was about 8,000 square feet; the current Executive Residence covers about 55,000 square feet; and together, the East and West Wings measure about 12,000 square feet.
Cost: An estimated $300 million in private donations, according to Trump.
2007: Press briefing room renovation under President George W. Bush
The new James Brady Press Room in 2007. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)
Scope: The James S. Brady Press Briefing Room covers roughly 2,200 square feet and is surrounded by small offices for the White House press corps. Bush modernized the whole area.
Cost: $8.5 million at the time (or $14 million to $18 million, adjusted for inflation). Of that total, $2.5 million came from the media itself; the remainder came from tax revenue.
1975: Construction of an outdoor swimming pool on the South Lawn under President Gerald Ford
President Gerald R. Ford and his daughter Susan Ford amid construction of the new outdoor swimming pool on the South Grounds in 1975. (Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and Museum/NARA)
Scope: Ford built a roughly 1,200-square-foot outdoor pool to replace the indoor pool that his predecessor, Richard Nixon, had covered and converted to the press briefing room five years earlier.
Cost: $66,800 in private donations (or $404,000, adjusted for inflation)
1948 to 1952: Full structural reconstruction of the White House under President Harry Truman
The south facade of the White House in May 1950. (Harry S. Truman Library Presidential Library and Museum/NARA)
Scope: Truman’s “total reconstruction” of the White House preserved its exterior walls while rebuilding its foundation, adding steel and concrete to its structure and upgrading its systems. In the process, Truman added six rooms and two new sub-basements, bringing the total square footage close to where it is today.
Cost: $5.7 million (or $70 million to $85 million, adjusted for inflation)
1934 and 1942: Overhaul of the West Wing and construction of the current East Wing under President Franklin D. Roosevelt
President Franklin D. Roosevelt at his desk in the Oval Office in 1934. (History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Scope: In 1934, Roosevelt added a second floor and a larger basement to the West Wing while relocating the Oval Office to its current location; in 1942, he built the current two-story East Wing office building (primarily to cover the construction of an underground bunker). Today these two nonresidential wings of the White House measure in at 12,000 square feet.
Cost: Unspecified, but substantial
1929 and 1930: Renovation and reconstruction of the West Wing under President Herbert Hoover
The lobby of the executive offices of the White House following the Christmas Eve fire in 1929. (HUM Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Scope: In 1929, Hoover spent seven months remodeling the West Wing, excavating a partial basement and supporting it with structural steel. But on Christmas Eve of that year, a four-alarm fire significantly damaged his newly completed project. Hoover was forced to rebuild the West Wing the following year.
Cost: Unspecified
1927: Renovation of upper floors and attic of the White House under President Calvin Coolidge
President Calvin Coolidge observes the progress of renovation work at the White House in 1927. (Library of Congress)
Scope: Coolidge replaced the White House’s original wood trusses with steel while rebuilding the roof and adding third-floor living spaces and offices for servants and secretaries.
Cost: $185,000 (or $3.5 million, adjusted for inflation)
1909: Expansion of the West Wing and creation of the Oval Office under President William Howard Taft
President William Howard Taft in the Oval Office in 1909. (B.M. Clinedinst/Library of Congress/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images)
Scope: Taft expanded the existing, temporary building southward, covering the tennis court, and placed the first Oval Office at the center of the addition’s south facade.
Cost: Unspecified
1902: Major renovation and expansion beyond the White House residence under President Theodore Roosevelt
Construction of the East Terrace in 1902. (White House Historical Association)
Scope: First lady Edith Roosevelt hired the architects McKim, Mead & White to separate the White House’s living quarters from its offices, creating a temporary West Wing on a site previously occupied by stables and greenhouses along with an “East Wing” entrance for formal and public visitors. The Roosevelts also enlarged and modernized the White House’s public rooms, redid its landscaping and redecorated its interior.
Cost: Congress appropriated $475,445 for the project (or $18 million to $22 million, adjusted for inflation)
1881: Redecoration under President Chester A. Arthur
During the President Chester A. Arthur administration, the room was redecorated by acclaimed New York designer Louis Comfort Tiffany in 1882. (Library of Congress)
Scope: Among other changes, Arthur cleared rooms, sold off furniture and commissioned Tiffany lighting.
Cost: $110,00 (or $3.5 million to $4.5 million, adjusted for inflation)
1824 and 1829: Additions of South and North Porticos under Presidents James Monroe and Andrew Jackson
The White House in 1850. (PHAS/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Scope: The White House’s iconic colonnaded porticos were added by original architect James Hoban within a five-year period in the early 1800s.
Cost: About $19,000 for the elliptical South Portico and about $25,000 for the rectangular North Portico (or a little more than $1 million combined and adjusted for inflation).
1815 to 1817: Rebuilding of the White House under Presidents James Madison and James Monroe after burning by British troops in the War of 1812
A drawing shows the burning of Washington, D.C., by the British in 1812. The White House is seen in the background. (Bettmann/Getty Images)
Scope: Presidents Madison and Monroe oversaw a multi-year reconstruction of the original 8,000-square-foot White House after its interior was destroyed by the British during the Burning of Washington. Only the exterior walls remained, but they were weakened by fire and the elements and had to be mostly rebuilt as well (except for portions of the south wall).
Cost: Approximately $500,000 (or $11.5 million to $13 million, adjusted for inflation)
1792 to 1800: Original construction of the White House Executive Residence
The first White House, designed by architect James Hoban, who won the competition to design the president’s new house in 1792. (AP)
Scope: The original 8,000-square-foot, Hoban-designed White House took eight years to build after the cornerstone was laid on Oct. 13, 1792. Many of the workmen were European immigrants who had not yet attained citizenship; enslaved African Americans quarried the stone used in construction.
Cost: $232,371 (or $5.9 million to $7.5 million, adjusted for inflation)
