The White House has suggested that President Donald Trump may have the authority to tear down the Jefferson Memorial or any other federal building without planning oversight.
As dramatic photos showed the full extent of Trump’s East Wing demolition on Thursday to make way for his $300 million ballroom, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked about the oversight process for the controversial project.
Earlier this week, the White House had claimed the reason it didn’t submit construction plans to the National Capital Planning Commission—which oversees major renovations of federal buildings in Washington—was because the commission has oversight over construction, but not demolition.
Asked if this meant the president could demolish anything he wanted, such as the Jefferson Memorial or the West Wing, Leavitt replied: “It’s not the president who came up with that legal opinion himself. That’s a legal opinion that’s been held by the NCPC for many years.”
“They have ruled consistently, their general counsel has said, when it comes to Phase One of this project, the tearing down of the current East Wing structure, a submission is not required legally for that. Only for vertical construction will a submission be required. That’s a legal opinion from them, and we are following that legal opinion.”
Pressed further if this essentially meant that Trump could demolish other buildings and structures, Leavitt once again pointed to the NCPC’s legal advice.
“It’s a legal opinion that’s been held for years and years,” she said, showing reporters images of other historic White House demolitions, such as President Harry Truman’s overhaul of the Executive Mansion.
“It’s something that presidents have done for years and years.”
The comments came as images from the Associated Press on Thursday showed that the entire White House East Wing appears to have been knocked down, leaving nothing but twisted piles of debris and rubble.
But anger remains over the suddenness and scale of the demolition, particularly after the president initially suggested in July that the construction of his ballroom “won’t interfere with the current building.”
Now, the White House admits, the “entirety” of the East Wing will be “modernized and rebuilt,” and the cost of his ballroom has tripled since February, when he first declared during a signing ceremony that he’d like to build it for $100 million.
In July, when Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced formal plans for the ballroom, it was priced at $200 million.
This subsequently increased to $250 million. Now, just hours after bulldozers first arrived, it’s $300 million.
Concerns also remain about what checks and balances will be in place, as the National Capital Planning Commission was quietly stacked with Trump loyalists days before the ballroom announcement in July.
William Scharf, a former personal lawyer to Trump who now serves as the White House staff secretary, was appointed the commission’s chair and can now help to ensure construction of the ballroom goes according to the president’s plans.
Two other Trump aides, Michael James Blair and Stuart Levenbach, were also presidentially appointed to the Commission to represent Virginia and Maryland.
But Leavitt rejected suggestions that the White House was not being open about the ballroom.
“Trust the process,” she said.
She also reiterated that the president and various donors would privately fund the project.
A list released by the White House on Thursday showed those donors include tech companies Amazon, Apple, Meta and Google; wealthy individuals such as Blackstone chief executive Stephen Schwarzman and construction executive Paolo Tiramani; along with crypto kings such as the Winkelvoss twins.
Asked whether the president would provide a dollar breakdown of funding in the future, she said, “Yes, you will.”
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