Tourists gawk and recoil at Trump's destruction of the White House East Wing

'This country is full of homeless people with nothing to eat, and this moron is spending this kind of money on this?'

This image provided by Katie Harbath shows the continuing demolition of the East Wing and construction for the new ballroom at the White House, Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025, in Washington. (Katie Harbath via AP)

With many Washington tourist spots closed due to the US government shutdown, some visitors instead are checking out an unexpected and divisive new attraction in the nation's capital: president Donald Trump's surprise demolition of the White House's East Wing.

Tours of the White House are out of the question, not least because the visitor entrance, which happened to be in the East Wing, is now a closed-off rubble-strewn demolition site, where Mr Trump's vision for a grand golden 90,000-square-foot ballroom will soon take shape.