Bill Clinton's Favorite Part Of The White House Was Destroyed By Donald Trump's Renovations

As President Donald Trump proceeds with his plans to build a 90,000-square-foot ballroom at the White House, his promises about the project have already sparked controversy. The Republican president claimed in July 2025 that the project "wouldn't interfere with the current building" that made up the White House's historic East Wing (via NBC News). But in October 2025, the 123-year-old Roosevelt-era annex was reduced to rubble and dust as a demolition crew began working on the $300 million renovation. The East Wing fulfilled several purposes. Primarily serving as the offices of the First Lady and her staff since Rosalyn Carter, the wing also housed the White House Family Theater, a humble entertainment space beloved by several presidents, including former President Bill Clinton.

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"The best perk of the White House is not Air Force One or Camp David or anything else, it's the wonderful movie theater I get here," Clinton once revealed in a 1999 interview with Roger Ebert. The movie theater was originally an East Terrace cloakroom, but was renovated for a screen by Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1942, according to the George W. Bush Library. The space had a few makeovers over the decades, with First Lady Laura Bush overseeing its last renovation in 2004, transforming the theater to reflect the quintessential "movie-palace red." The theater has since been knocked down. Although an insider told The Hollywood Reporter that "the movie theater will be modernized and renovated with the rest of the East Wing," it is unclear what the once-cozy entertainment refuge for presidents and their families will look like once it's rebuilt, if at all.

As many Americans condemn Donald Trump's ballroom blueprints, Hilary Clinton is among them, reminding citizens of the White House's label as the People's House. "It's not his house. It's your house. And he's destroying it," Clinton wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter. Alongside Clinton was California Governor Gavin Newsom, who also posted on X, calling Trump's ballroom a "knock-off Versailles on White House grounds." And while Trump's wife Melania's silence over the ballroom plans gave the impression that she didn't care, The Washington Post reported that the first lady was actually not keen on the idea of destroying the East Wing and tried to distance herself from the project.

Though the costly build-out sparked questions over who would be paying for the ballroom, the White House has named several wealthy private donors to fund the project — and the list clearly shows that Trump has replaced Elon Musk for some new tech bro pals. According to Fortune, which reviewed a list of donors, Meta, Apple, Google, and Amazon are among those who plan to invest in the ballroom project. Though the decor for the ballroom has yet to be decided, as of this writing, one can only imagine the cyber-esque makeover that could infiltrate the old building, just based on the donor list alone.