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THE EAST WING of the White House has been demolished as Donald Trump moves forward with construction of a ballroom.

The two-storey structure of drawing rooms and offices, including workspace for the wife of the President and her staff, has been turned into rubble as part of the Republican president’s plan to build what he said is now a $300 million (€258m) ballroom nearly twice the size of the White House.

Trump said on Wednesday that keeping the East Wing would have “hurt a very, very expensive, beautiful building” which he claimed presidents have wanted for years. He added that “me and some friends of mine” will pay for the ballroom at no cost to taxpayers.

Trump had originally said the project would be €50m cheaper but he updated that to the current cost this week. Yesterday, he put the price tag “in the neighbourhood” of 300 million dollars.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt attributed the demolition and higher building cost to changes that happen with any construction.

“The plans changed when the president heard counsel from the architects and the construction companies who said that in order for this East Wing to be modern and beautiful for many, many years to come, for it to be a truly strong and stable structure, this phase one that we’re now in was necessary and the president wants to do right by the People’s House,” she said at a press briefing.