Most Americans oppose East Wing demolition for Trump ballroom, poll finds
Fifty-six percent say they oppose President Donald Trump’s decision to tear down part of the White House to build a 90,000-square-foot ballroom building.
October 30, 2025 at 6:00 a.m. EDTToday at 6:00 a.m. EDT, 5 min
Americans oppose President Donald Trump’s demolition of the White House’s East Wing to make way for a 90,000-square-foot ballroom building by a 2-to-1 margin, according to a Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll released Thursday.
By Dan Diamond, Andrew Ba Tran and Jonathan Edwards
Twenty-eight percent of Americans say they support the demolition project, paid for by $300 million in private donations from U.S. businesses and individuals, compared with 56 percent who oppose it, the poll finds. Another 16 percent are not sure whether they support or oppose the project.
The findings echo other recent surveys, including an Economist-YouGov poll conducted from Oct. 24 to Oct. 27 that found 25 percent of Americans supported the project and 61 percent were opposed.
The Post-ABC-Ipsos poll also finds partisan splits in how Americans perceive the project, with nearly 9 in 10 Democrats and roughly 6 in 10 independents opposing it, compared with about 2 in 10 Republicans. However, Democrats feel more intensely about the issue than Republicans. Some 78 percent of Democrats and 49 percent of independents strongly oppose the project, compared with 35 percent of Republicans who strongly support it.
Trump has claimed the project is broadly popular.
“People are loving it,” the president said in remarks in Tokyo on Tuesday, citing an editorial in The Washington Post and an op-ed in the New York Times that supported his project. (The Washington Post’s editorial page is independent from the newsroom.)
The construction project, which the White House announced in July, drew widespread attention last week after demolition began. Preservationists have blasted the administration for tearing down a historic structure with little oversight, and watchdog groups have questioned Trump’s use of private donors to fund a pet project.
“There are huge transparency and conflict-of-interest concerns here,” said Dylan Hedtler-Gaudette, acting vice president of policy and government affairs at the nonpartisan Project of Government Oversight.
Lawmakers and some conservative commentators have also criticized Trump for demolishing part of the White House without waiting for federal review boards to weigh in.
The administration has defended the project, with press secretary Karoline Leavitt and other officials saying that a larger event space is a long-needed addition to the White House that Trump has found a way to build without tax dollars.
Continue/Read Original Article Here: Poll: Americans oppose Trump’s demolition of the East Wing – The Washington Post
Discover more from DrWeb's Domain
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
