President Donald Trump has demolished the East Wing of the White House in the middle of building a new 8,400 square meter (90,000 square foot) ballroom, stunning historic preservationists and angering the nation.
But amid criticism of the proposed $300 million project, Trump’s defenders have pointed to recent White House renovations and suggested the current outrage is unwarranted.
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“2010 CNN Report: $376 Million White House Renovation During Obama Administration,” reads an Oct. 22 X post that shared a 25-second clip of a CNN news article. “Where was the Democratic Party’s anger at that time?”
CNN report from 2010:
The White House was renovated at a cost of $376 million during the Obama administration.
So where was the Democratic Party’s anger? pic.twitter.com/MvLVDFcTru
— Christian Collins (@CollinsforTX) October 22, 2025
“Breaking news,” read another X post that reshared the same video clip. “People are digging up footage from CNN from 2010 showing that President Obama’s $376 million White House remodel was paid for entirely by taxpayers, while President Trump’s $250 million ballroom was paid for out of pocket.”
🚨BREAKING: People are digging up 2010 CNN footage of President Obama’s $376 million White House makeover, which was all paid for by taxpayers. Meanwhile, President Trump’s $250 million in banquet hall expenses are his own expenses. pic.twitter.com/PSS2K8SJRJ
— aka (@akafaceUS) October 25, 2025
President Obama was in the middle of renovating the White House. But the differences between that project and Trump’s are significant.
CNN reported in 2010 that Congress approved funding for the White House work in 2008 after a government report prepared during President George W. Bush’s second term found the building’s water and electrical systems needed upgrades. These changes improved the heating, cooling, and fire alarm systems, which had not been updated since either 1902 or 1934.
Bob Peck, then director of the U.S. General Services Administration’s Office of Public Buildings, told CNN in 2010 that the White House occasionally experienced power outages and leaky pipes.
President Obama’s basement renovation work primarily affected the interior of the building.
Separately, the Obamas updated and renovated the interior of the White House in 2009 without using taxpayer money. The New York Times reported in 2020 that new furniture for the White House was paid for primarily through royalties from President Obama’s books and donations. President Obama also converted the White House tennis court to be used as a basketball court.
The demolition of President Trump’s East Building and the addition of a banquet hall have not been approved by the federal agency that oversees the construction and renovation of federal buildings. President Trump said the project aims to expand seating capacity in the east wing from 200 to 999 people.
The White House initially said the project would cost $200 million, but President Trump later said it would be $300 million, funded by donations. The Washington Post reports that donors include individuals and companies such as Amazon, Google, Meta, and Microsoft.
“This is unprecedented in every bad way, that the American people are being kept completely in the dark about the president’s plans,” said Sarah Bronin, Frieda H. Albertson Professor of Law at George Washington University Law School.
Priya Jain, chair of the Society of Architectural Historians’ Heritage Preservation Committee, objected to calling Trump’s project a renovation. “This project involves the complete demolition of a large portion of the building,” she said.
The Obama-era project was a renovation, but President Trump demolished the entire wing.
CNN reported in 2010 that the Obama-era renovations began in 2010 and cost an estimated $376 million in infrastructure improvements to the east and west wings.
Peck explained that the project is primarily underground utility work. “It’s not a good thing when you have a building that looks like an image of the free world standing there and it’s not functioning well,” Peck told CNN when asked about the cost.
Bloomberg News reported in 2010 that President Obama’s renovation was the largest renovation of the White House since President Harry Truman was in office. From 1948 to 1952, Truman oversaw the historic demolition, renovation, and expansion of the White House to address serious structural problems that at one point caused the legs of his daughter’s piano to break through the floor.
Historic preservationists say President Trump’s project will be the first major exterior change to the White House in 83 years.
“Such significant changes to this imported historic building should be subject to a rigorous and deliberate design and review process,” the Society of Architectural Historians said in an Oct. 16 statement.
Since becoming president for the second time, Trump has added gold highlights to the Oval Office and paved the lawn of the Rose Garden. The National Park Service oversaw the rose garden project.
Presidential projects have different approvals from federal agencies
At a September meeting of the National Capital Planning Commission, the federal agency that oversees the construction and renovation of federal buildings, Trump-appointed chairman Will Schaaf said the commission had no jurisdiction over “demolition and site preparation operations,” only construction and “vertical construction.” The commission is scheduled to meet on November 6, but it is unclear whether it will do so if the federal government shutdown continues.
PolitiFact looked at President Obama’s renovation approval records in the National Planning Commission’s project search, but there are no records in the database before January 2012. We asked the commission if it had approved the 2010 renovations, but did not hear back because of the closure.
The White House is exempt from Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966. The law requires federal agencies to consider public input and concerns about historic preservation when making final project decisions. Nevertheless, presidents have typically undertaken White House projects in a spirit of public transparency, said Michael Spencer, an associate professor in the School of Historic Preservation at the University of Mary Washington. For example, the State Planning Commission and the Fine Arts Commission approved renovations to tennis facilities during President Trump’s first term.
“Most importantly, these projects did not involve the demolition of existing historic buildings,” Jain said.
The east colonnade and east tower were built in 1902 and 1942, respectively, and should have been evaluated for historical significance before being demolished, under National Park Service guidelines, she said.
PolitiFact researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report.
