After days of construction equipment clawing down chunks of the century-old East Wing, photos showed the traditional home of the first lady’s offices reduced to piles of rubble.
Trump has brushed off howls of outrage from political critics and preservationists over the abrupt tear-down, which started without any notice on Tuesday.
He said workers would soon start building a ballroom bigger than the entire rest of the White House, at a cost that has surged to $US300 million ($NZ522m) from an initial estimate of $US200m.
Trump insists he is not required to go through any approval processes for the project and ignored a letter from the Trust for Historic Preservation pleading for a pause in the demolition earlier in the week.
The 90,000sq foot windowed ballroom will rise on the footprint of the former East Wing as well as a big chunk of the White House grounds.
Trump says deep-pocketed donors will foot the bill but has yet to provide a detailed accounting. Critics say the process is rife with obvious conflicts of interest and potential influence peddling.
Trump has already turned the Rose Garden into a patio and put gold trim in the Oval Office. He wants to erect an arch dubbed the Arc de Trump across the Potomac River from the Lincoln Memorial. — New York Daily News
