A bevy of new details surrounding the Trump administration’s decision to demolish the East Wing of the White House were revealed this week in court filings, as part of a case filed by the National Trust for Historic Preservation seeking to pause construction on the sprawling ballroom project.
President Donald Trump’s pet project was initially pitched as a renovation of the structure, which traditionally was home to office space for the first lady and her staff. But it quickly ballooned in scope and is now estimated to cost upward of $300 million — though Trump said that number had increased to $400 million Tuesday night at a White House Hanukkah reception.
A memo, filed by the White House on Monday evening in response to the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s lawsuit, included declarations from various National Park Service officials and an environmental assessment conducted by the NPS determining that there would be “no significant impact ” on the surrounding environment. It also provided the first public estimate of the project’s timeline, which is projected to be completed sometime in the summer of 2028 — just months before Trump is set to leave office.
White House officials in the filing called for the judge to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing that any halt to the project would amount to a national security risk.
The filing did not explain the specific national security concerns, but it has long been known that an emergency operations bunker lies below the East Wing. Instead, the administration only offered to share classified details with the judge in a private, in-person setting without the plaintiffs present.
The White House also argued in its response filed Monday that the president has the authority to modify the White House, asserting that he is not subject to normal statues.
“Plaintiff’s claims concerning demolition of the East Wing are moot because the demolition has already occurred and cannot be undone,” Department of Justice officials wrote. “The President possesses affirmative statutory authority to alter and improve the White House — authority that expressly overrides other laws.”
Earlier this month Trump added a new architect to his construction team, after the original project leader reportedly aired concerns about the scope and size of the ballroom.
According to the memo filed Monday, National Park Service’s streamlined environmental review gave White House officials the green light to begin demolition after determining that the impact would not be “significant.”
But it appears unclear whether the agency was aware that the project would escalate to a full demolition of the structure. The environmental review, dated to August before the East Wing had completely come down, said the deconstruction “continues a long-standing tradition reflected in the park’s enabling legislation of adapting the White House grounds to accommodate essential executive goals.”
In one notable passage, the assessment describes a plan to preserve structural components of the original East Wing, including wood paneling, light fixtures, outdoor columns, a bronze plaque from the 1942 renovation and parts of a movie theater, among other smaller features.
According to the court filing, Clark Construction has salvaged some historic materials within the East Wing and East Colonnade including stone columns, doors, windows and historic items that are now being stored.
It remains unclear whether all of the National Park Service’s recommendations for preservation were ultimately undertaken. The White House and the National Park Service did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the matter.
A former National Park Service official told Politico’s E&E News that it seems the agency overlooked several aspects of the review process in order to grant the president’s requests.
“It seems several steps have been left out this time by the NPS,” said Jonathan Jarvis, who served as director of the National Park Service during the Obama administration. “The public controversy alone should have triggered a full EIS [environmental impact statement.]”
Lawmakers have also filed legislation to attempt to halt construction. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut, introduced a bill earlier this month that would require review from the National Capital Planning Commission “before initiating any demolition activities” and congressional approval for privately funded White House construction projects.
In the House, Rep. Jamie Raskin, a Democrat from Maryland, said he has plans to introduce his own legislation requiring the White House to fall under the same oversight reviews as other federal projects under the National Historic Preservation Act.
Raskin’s bill would require White House renovations to undergo a pre-ground-breaking assessment that addresses the impact of renovations on historic buildings and allows the public to weigh in.
In an interview with Vanity Fair published Tuesday, Trump’s chief of staff, Susie Wiles, also implied there may be more revelations about the ballroom yet to be revealed.
“I think you’ll have to judge it by its totality because you only know a little bit of what he’s planning,” Wiles told Chris Whipple for the publication. “I’m not telling.”
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