News In Diaspora
White House Demolished By Trump for New Ballroom
WASHINGTON, DC – OCTOBER 20: The facade of the East Wing of the White House is demolished by work crews on October 20, 2025 in Washington, DC. The demolition is part of U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan to build a ballroom reportedly costing $250 million on the eastern side of the White House. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by Kevin Dietsch / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)
Donald Trump has often been dubbed a political wrecking ball for his unorthodox style — and now the US president has literally started demolition work on the White House.
Work crews began tearing down part of the East Wing on Monday as the former property mogul said work had formally commenced on a huge new $250-million ballroom.
A mechanical excavator had ripped through the facade of the East Wing, leaving a tangle of broken masonry, rubble and steel wires, AFP journalists at the scene saw.
Republican Trump said as he hosted college baseball players at the White House on Monday that “right on the other side you have a lot of construction that you might hear occasionally.”
The 79-year-old billionaire later officially announced that work had started on the ballroom, the biggest addition to the US presidential mansion in more than a century.
“I am pleased to announce that ground has been broken on the White House grounds to build the new, big, beautiful White House Ballroom,” Trump said on his Truth Social network.
Trump said the East Wing was being “fully modernized as part of this process, and will be more beautiful than ever when it is complete!”
The East Wing is where US first ladies have traditionally had their offices. The president works in the West Wing and the couple live in the Executive Mansion.
‘Generous Patriots’ –
But while Trump said that the East Wing is “completely separate from the White House itself,” it is in fact physically joined to the main mansion by a covered colonnade.
Trump says the new 90,000-square-foot ballroom with a capacity of 1,000 people is needed to host large state dinners and other events that currently have to be held in a tent.
The former reality TV star held a glitzy dinner at the White House last week for donors to the ballroom.
The guests included representatives from tech firms like Amazon, Apple, Meta, Google, Microsoft and Palantir and defense giant Lockheed Martin — all companies with significant contracts or other dealings with the government.
They also included twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, the founders of crypto platform Gemini, who were made famous as jilted investors in the movie “The Social Network” about the birth of Facebook.
“The White House Ballroom is being privately funded by many generous Patriots, Great American Companies, and, yours truly. This Ballroom will be happily used for Generations to come!” he said on Monday.
It is the largest part of the huge makeover Trump has given the White House since returning to power in January, including covering the Oval Office with gold decor and paving over the Rose Garden.
Trump has also unveiled plans for a huge triumphal arch in Washington, which was dubbed the “Arc de Trump” after AFP first revealed the proposal.
President Volodymyr Zelensky has expressed his readiness for one-on-one talks with President Vladimir Putin to work out a permanent ceasefire to end the Ukraine war.
Zelensky reiterated the commitment on Wednesday at a press conference alongside NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on the sidelines of the first NATO-Ukraine Council meeting.
“I’m ready for direct negotiations with Putin to end this war,” he said in Kyiv. “Rather than wait while everybody finishes all the conflicts in the world.”
Zelensky noted that ballistic missiles are Russia’s “last argument” in the war, confirming his country has been responding with the American-made Patriot systems.
The leader insists the recent strikes by Ukraine were justified, as they were carried out in response to the Russian attacks on its territory.
“If they continue using drones and missiles against us, we will be doing the same,” Zelensky vowed. “But we respond exclusively against oil refineries or justified military targets.”
The President, however, hinted that the greatest threat Ukraine currently faces is Russia’s capability to produce up to 120 ballistic missiles per month.
Rutte praised Ukraine for its resilience, saying the nation has become so successful that Putin was only able to organize the May 9 parade with an official presidential decree by Zelensky.
Iran has warned residents in northern Israel to leave their homes if Israel follows through on its threat to attack Beirut’s southern suburbs.
The warning was issued by Iran’s central military command and reported by the state-run IRNA news agency.
According to the statement, the message was a response to an Israeli military evacuation order issued for Dahiyeh, a southern suburb of Beirut.
The commander of the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters said residents in northern Israel should evacuate in the event of an Israeli strike on the area, signalling a further escalation in tensions between the two sides.
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