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First lady Melania Trump wasn’t fully onboard with her husband’s decision to demolish the East Wing of the White House to make way for a new ballroom but is warming up to the renovations, President Trump revealed Monday.
“She loved her little, tiny office,” the president told Fox News host Laura Ingraham, when asked about a Wall Street Journal report that Melania had privately raised concerns about tearing down the East Wing.
Trump, 79, did not deny the report but suggested his wife quickly warmed up to the massive construction project, which began late last month.
“She’s very smart,” he said of Melania, during his appearance on “The Ingraham Angle,” claiming that “in about one day she — if you were to ask her now, she’d say, ‘It’s great.’”
The East Wing housed the first lady’s offices and the White House’s social offices, including the graphics and calligraphy departments.
Administration officials cited in the Wall Street Journal’s report last month indicated that Melania had told associates that the demolition was not her project.
The president is erecting a massive, 90,000-square-foot ballroom in the space once occupied by the East Wing, which was originally built in 1902 and renovated extensively since.
“The East Wing,” Trump told Ingraham, “that building was renovated 20 times, including adding a floor to the top, which was terrible.”
“It was made out of common brick, little, tiny windows. It looked like hell.”
Trump said he “didn’t want to sacrifice a great ballroom for an OK ballroom by leaving [the East Wing] right smack in the middle.”
When the president first unveiled plans to build the ballroom, he suggested the structure would be nestled near the existing East Wing and not replace it entirely.
Trump claims the project is entirely financed by donations and will cost up to $300 million.
Democrats, including failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and former first lady Michelle Obama, have ripped the project.
“It’s not his house. It’s your house. And he’s destroying it,” Clinton wrote on X last month.
“When we talk about the East Wing, it is the heart of the work” of a first lady, Obama reportedly said during a taping of her podcast last week, according to Vanity Fair. “And to denigrate it, to tear it down, to pretend like it doesn’t matter — it’s a reflection of how you think of that role.”
Trump addressed Obama’s criticism by arguing the ballroom is necessary to host large-scale event, while keeping distinguished White House guests dry.
“If you have some big state event, we have no place to have it,” the president told Ingraham. “Obama wouldn’t mind this. Mrs. Obama, obviously, wouldn’t mind.”
“They would put a tent on the lawn,” Trump continued. “It was a low section, because that’s the only section you have, so, it was a low section — iff it rained, you were sitting in six inches of water.”
“It was a disaster.”
Construction on the ballroom is expected to be completed in early 2029, before Trump leaves office.
“We’re gonna have the best ballroom anywhere in the world. And I’ve built a lot of them,” Trump pledged.
English (US)