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As the controversy surrounding the demolition project was growing, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News that she believed the outrage to be “fake,” because nearly every president has made “modernizations and renovations” during his tenure. But we’re not just talking about modest alterations. Rather, in this instance, we’re talking about bulldozers.

While the news on Monday afternoon indicated that crews had torn down the entrance way to the White House’s East Wing, it became clear a day later that the facade wasn’t the only part of the structure affected. The Washington Post reported:

A demolition job that began Monday with the disappearance of the White House’s eastern entrance advanced Tuesday with the destruction of much of the East Wing, according to a photograph obtained by The Washington Post and two people who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the scene.

By Tuesday afternoon, it appeared obvious that a significant portion of the East Wing has been demolished, Trump’s earlier vows notwithstanding.

NEW: After The Washington Post reported Monday on the demolition of the "East Wing facade," a new picture obtained by Law Dork that was taken on Tuesday shows that a substantial portion of the entirety of the East Wing has been demolished.

— Chris Geidner (@chrisgeidner.bsky.social) 2025-10-21T20:13:32.290Z

.....Of course, those aren’t just partisan complaints: Trump, acting at his own discretion, really is treating the White House as if it were his own personal property.

As we’ve discussed, the symbolic significance is impossible to miss: An authoritarian president is literally tearing down part of a national treasure because he wants a fancy ballroom to host parties for the elite.

The White House has reportedly asked that officials “refrain from taking and sharing photographs of the grounds, to include the East Wing, without prior approval from the Office of Public Affairs.” This probably won’t stop images from reaching the public, though the appeal suggests that Team Trump isn’t exactly proud of its handiwork.