White House starts demolishing part of the East Wing to build Trump’s ballroom

The White House has moved ahead with the massive construction project at the site, the traditional base of operations for the first lady, despite not yet having sign-off from the National Capital Planning Commission

Work begins on the demolition of part of the East Wing of the White House (Evan Vucci/AP)

The White House has started tearing down part of the East Wing, the traditional base of operations for the first lady, to build US President Donald Trump’s $250m ballroom.

The work started despite lacking approval for construction from the federal agency that oversees such projects.