US President Donald Trump confirmed Wednesday that the White House’s iconic East Wing is being torn down in its entirety to make way for a huge $300-million ballroom — a far more extensive demolition than previously announced.

Trump told reporters at an Oval Office event that he had decided after consulting architects that “really knocking it down” was preferable to a partial demolition.

The president was asked about the work at an event alongside NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, after a mechanical excavator was photographed ripping through the East Wing’s facade, leaving a tangle of broken masonry, rubble and steel wires.

The East Wing is where US first ladies have traditionally had their offices. The president works in the West Wing and the couple live in the Executive Mansion.

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