Has construction started on the East Wing of the White House.

1. Demolition precedes design briefing — construction has been active since 2025

Public reporting and planning documents establish that demolition of the existing East Wing occurred in October 2025 and that work on the site was already active in late 2025, with some sources describing rubble and excavation activity and others saying the site has been “under construction since September 2025” ^{[1] [6] [2]}. Officials and the project’s architect later presented designs publicly in January 2026, an unusual sequence that drew attention because demolition and site work had already begun before some formal reviews were completed ^{[3] [4]}.

2. The project scope: a new East Wing with a large ballroom and added facilities

The planned replacement is not a simple renovation but a sizable expansion: officials describe an approximately 89,000–90,000 square‑foot addition replacing the old wing, including a roughly 22,000–25,000 square‑foot ballroom plus office space and other amenities — figures repeated across government briefings and press accounts ^{[1] [4] [7]}. The architect’s renderings and public presentations in January 2026 showed a two‑story colonnade linking the Executive Residence to the new ballroom and discussed possible balancing additions on the West Wing ^{[8] [9] [7]}.

3. Oversight, secrecy claims, and legal pushback complicate the timeline

Multiple oversight bodies and preservation groups criticized the timing and process: the National Capital Planning Commission and Commission of Fine Arts convened reviews after construction began, and the National Trust for Historic Preservation filed suit to halt the project arguing required reviews were not obtained before demolition ^{[4] [5]}. The White House has defended the rapid demolition and ongoing work by citing structural deterioration and “mission‑critical” or “top‑secret” elements — including references to underground or secure facilities — as reasons some aspects were not disclosed in advance, a position that both prompted and complicated judicial and public scrutiny ^{[10] [11] [12]}.

4. Health and environmental transparency concerns have followed physical work

The teardown and replacement prompted specific public records demands: nonprofit groups have asked for asbestos inspection and abatement records tied to the October 2025 demolition and at least one Freedom of Information lawsuit was filed seeking those documents, underscoring how physical demolition and construction have already created downstream regulatory and public‑health disputes ^[1]. Reporting notes officials justified demolition in part on structural and utility deficiencies, but critics argue the administration bypassed customary processes ^{[10] [5]}.

5. What reporting does not yet confirm — limits of public evidence

Available sources consistently report that demolition and site‑level construction activity began in late 2025 and that the project continued into January 2026 with public design briefings; however, these reports do not provide minute‑by‑minute verification of current crews on site today, nor full technical details of “top‑secret” underground work the administration cites to justify its sequence of actions, and those security claims remain largely undisclosed in the public record ^{[3] [11] [12]}. Therefore, while authoritative reporting confirms construction has started and is ongoing as of the cited accounts, the precise status of classified subterranean components and some timeline specifics cannot be independently corroborated from the provided sources.