White House Defends East Wing Raze Amid Ballroom Push

The White House told federal planners the East Wing “could not be saved” and said demolition and reconstruction were the lowest-cost long-term option as Donald Trump presses ahead with a new ballroom complex.Architect Shalom Baranes showed updated renderings for a roughly 22,000-square-foot ballroom with 38-to-40-foot ceilings and nearly 1,000 seats, part of an “East Wing Modernization Project” that could expand the campus by about 90,000 square feet and may add a second story above the West Wing colonnade.Commissioners including Phil Mendelson challenged the scale as Will Scharf predicted approval, after the National Trust for Historic Preservation sued to halt work and as a fuller review with public testimony heads toward the spring ahead of the Feb. 5 meeting.