Volkswacht Bodensee - White House's East Wing demolished for Trump ballroom: satellite images

A gray and brown patch of rubble can now be seen in the area that used to be occupied by the iconic building, according to the images shared with AFP by Planet Labs PBC and dated Thursday.

Satellite photos taken just under a month earlier show the wing that housed the offices of the US first lady intact.

The complete destruction of part of one of the world's most famous landmarks is a far more extensive demolition than previously announced by Trump -- and happened virtually without warning.

When he unveiled his plans in July, Trump said that the 90,000-square foot ballroom "won't interfere with the current building" and said it would be "near it but not touching it."

But after work started this week, Trump said Wednesday that he had decided after consulting architects that "really knocking it down" was preferable to a partial demolition.

Trump also said that the new ballroom would cost $300 million, raising the cost from the $250 million quoted by the White House days before, and the $200 million it cited in July.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told an AFP reporter in a briefing that $300 million was now the definitive number but said that "it's not going to cost the taxpayers a dime."

Trump says the ballroom, which will be used for hosting state dinners and other large events, will be funded entirely by private donors and by himself.

The White House released a list of the donors to AFP on Thursday. They include US tech titans Amazon, Apple, Google and Meta, as well as defense giant Lockheed Martin.

Individual donors include the family of Trump's Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, who were made famous as jilted investors in the movie "The Social Network" about the birth of Facebook.

E.Gasser--VB