'Music to my ears': Trump celebrates the sounds of East Wing demolition Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy, USA TODAY October 22, 2025 at 2:43 AM 0 The sound of jackhammering may sound earsplitting to most, but the sound of construction is music to President Donald Trump's ears.
- - 'Music to my ears': Trump celebrates the sounds of East Wing demolition
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy, USA TODAY October 22, 2025 at 2:43 AM
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The sound of jackhammering may sound earsplitting to most, but the sound of construction is music to President Donald Trump's ears.
He rhapsodized about his favorite background music at a Senate Republican luncheon at the newly renovated White House Rose Garden on Oct. 21 on Day 21 of the government shutdown. He was talking about the another ongoing construction project just steps away: the $250 million, 90,000-square-foot ballroom.
Workers began demolishing part of the East Wing on Oct. 20 ahead of the massive construction project, which would be one of the biggest changes to the presidential residence made in decades.
"You probably hear the beautiful sound of construction to the back. You hear that sound? Oh, that's music to my ears. I love that sound," he said. "Other people don't like it. When I hear that sound, it reminds me of money."
1 / 4White House East Room demolition begins for Trump ballroom construction: PhotosOngoing construction on the East Wing of the White House, where U.S. President Donald Trump's proposed ballroom is being built, in Washington, D.C., October 20, 2025.
The White House and Trump have said the cost of the ballroom is being financed by private donors and Trump herself.
"In this case, it reminds me of lack of money because I'm paying for it," said Trump.
Donors to the ballroom construction include the United States' biggest corporations, such as Lockheed Martin, Palantir, Alphabet's Google, Meta and Amazon, a White House official told USA TODAY.
Trump then went on to talk about the venue they were assembled in, crediting first lady Melania Trump with overseeing the project, which involved paving over the Rose Garden lawn with a paved patio and adding new surround sounds.
President Donald Trump speaks at a "Rose Garden Club" lunch in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, DC, on October 21, 2025.
"It was in very bad shape, actually. And we brought it back to health. first lady Melania did a fantastic job on it," he said.
He once again talked about women's shoes getting stuck in the "luxurious grass" as an incentive for the change.
"We're going to use it for press conferences. It was unusable before and now we can use it," he said. "All of this was redone and the whole White House is being redone."
He also pointed to changes he's made to a hallway leading to the Rose Garden. He said he's replaced tiled floors with marble.
"That was made out of Home Depot tiles, about one foot by one foot. They were all broken, about 30 years old. And I replaced it with book-matched marble paid for by your friend President Trump."
Trump, whose background is in real estate, has made several changes in the White House, including gilding the Oval Office. He's also recently pitched an arch across from the Lincoln Memorial. The arch, reminiscent of Paris's imposing Arc de Triomphe, would serve as a gateway to Washington while entering via the Arlington Memorial Bridge from Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.
"It's so relaxing for me. Real estate is relaxing," he told his ballroom donors at a recent dinner in East Room. "For a lot of people, real estate is a very trying business. I've always liked it. I've always done well with it."
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy is a White House correspondent for USA TODAY. You can follow her on X @SwapnaVenugopal
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump celebrates the noise of new White House ballroom construction
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