Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent defended the complete demolition of the White House East Wing, claiming that historic property may be a serious health risk.
“I think this was a judgement call on the president. The president is a master builder,” Bessent told NBC’s Meet the Press from Malaysia, where Donald Trump is attending a diplomatic summit.
“I completely endorse what the president’s doing here with the ballroom, and I don’t know,” he went on. “I assume that maybe parts of the East Wing could have had asbestos. It could have been mold.”
President Trump repeatedly assured the American public that he would not tear down the East Wing to build his new 90,000-square-foot, $300 million ballroom, which he plans to name after himself.
He told reporters in July the new annex “won’t interfere with the current building,” that it would be “near but not touching it,” and that it would “pay total respect to the existing building, which I’m the biggest fan of.”
As of Sunday, less than a week after construction started, the MAGA administration has razed the East Wing in its entirety to the ground. In response to widespread backlash, Trump has defended the decision, arguing a complete rebuild was the only way forward.
Speaking with NBC, Bessent appears to have pushed that argument further with his speculation there may have been asbestos or mold in the existing structure.
It’s not an entirely unreasonable theory. Initial construction on the East Wing was concluded in 1942, a period when asbestos, a now-known carcinogen, was commonly used in building materials like insulation, roofing and flooring.
But to date, Bessent’s comments mark the first and only time any member of the Trump administration has made any mention whatsoever of the material as an issue amid the ongoing work.
That’s not to say concerns haven’t been raised. Critics have voiced alarm about the lack of visible safety measures, proper permits, and adherence to environmental regulations during the demolition process—including the appropriate handling of potentially toxic building materials.
On Friday, veteran contractor Sarah Boardman, who claims to have worked in the sector for more than 30 years, said she’d be “fined out of existence” for overseeing a demolition like the East Wing’s.
“I worry about the construction workers,” Boardman wrote in a follow-up email to The Daily Dot. “None of them appear to be wearing any kind of protection. I worry about the people that are working in the White House. The timeline for this is bonkers, and I’m not understanding why they think this would go unnoticed.”
The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House for comment on this story.
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