Trump’s comments today put the cost of the demolition at US$300m, raising the cost from the US$250m quoted by the White House days ago.
While the US President said that the East Wing is “completely separate from the White House itself”, it is in fact physically joined to the main mansion by a covered colonnade.
The facelift has raised questions about what critics have decried as a lack of transparency, and has led to complaints that there was no advance notice or consultation.
“We are deeply concerned that the massing and height of the proposed new construction will overwhelm the White House itself – [which] is 55,000sqft (5110sqm) – and may also permanently disrupt the carefully balanced classical design of the White House with its two smaller, and lower, East and West Wings,” the National Trust for Historic Preservation said in a letter to the Trump Administration yesterday.
-Agence France-Presse