White House staffers couldn’t care less about destroying the East Wing
White House staff It doesn’t seem to care that much about the ongoing demolition of the East Wing that’s happening in the middle of a government shutdown.
“It doesn’t affect me at all, to be honest,” a White House aide told WIRED. The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to the press, adds that they “haven’t thought about it” and have “probably only heard a handful of people talking about it.”
President Donald Trump is leading the way on a privately funded multi-hundred million dollar ballroom that will replace the East Wing, which was added to the White House in 1902 before being expanded in 1942. Images of the demolition have met with varying degrees of shock and outrage, as the government suggests no wing rooms were involved.
The East Wing of the White House is the traditional workplace of first ladies and their staffs, and is the site of a long line of historic events.
Apparently, First Lady Melania Trump’s office is here. Even though the first lady has remained in New York full-time in Trump 2.0 so far, there were several teams of staffers who were effectively fired shortly before the cranes began rolling on Monday.
According to another White House official, the first lady’s office will be moved to the White House. According to the same official, calligraphers—yes, apparently there is a team of decorative calligraphers who operated out of the East Wing—the White House Military Office, the White House Visitors Bureau, and the Office of Legislative Affairs are all moving to the Eisenhower Office across the street.
A spokeswoman for the first lady declined to comment on where she works in D.C. or her opinion on the demolition of the site that once housed her famous display of 40 red Christmas trees in 2018.
A Trump World source familiar with the situation denied that the demolition could cause problems for the first lady or other staff.
“It’s not a problem,” they tell WIRED, also speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss internal morale. This issue has not been raised in a conversation I have had with government officials over the past few weeks.
