Donald Trump DEMOLISHES part of the White House for new ballroom

The White House's East Wing was being demolished on Monday to make way for President Donald Trump's gilded $250 million ballroom. 

Daily Mail photos showed a backhoe ripping into the once-pristine structure that has formed part of the White House complex for more than a century.

Banging and crashing were heard throughout the area, as clusters of staffers and journalists watched construction equipment tear chunks out of the walls. 

When the ballroom project was originally announced, the president and White House officials suggested that at least a portion of the East Wing would stay intact. 

'It won't interfere with the current building,' the president said at the time. 'It'll be near it, but not touching it and pays total respect to the existing building, which I'm the biggest fan of. It's my favorite.'

Press secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked point-blank if the East Wing would be demolished when the plans were rolled out.

She said the 'necessary construction will take place' and the East Wing will be 'modernized'.

Trump used similar language in a Truth Social post Monday evening after the demolition footage started to circulate.

'Completely separate from the White House itself, the East Wing is being fully modernized as part of this process, and will be more beautiful than ever when it is complete!' Trump said. 

Trump announced in July plans to build a grand, 25,000 square feet ballroom to accommodate state dinners and other formal events. 

Renderings show a lavish design - crystal chandeliers, gilded columns and gold inlays - reflecting the opulent aesthetic of the president's Mar-a-Lago resort.

The new ballroom is supposed to be privately funded, with Trump chipping in himself. 

Donors include Silicon Valley titans, Apple and Google, defense behemoth Lockheed Martin, and telecom provider, T-Mobile.

The East Wing, in its original form, was constructed in 1902 during President Theodore Roosevelt's tenure, initially as a small structure that served as the public entrance.

It has since been expanded and modified, notably with the addition of a second story in 1942 to provide offices for First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and her staff. 

Trump last week held a glitzy White House dinner with billionaires and company executives who are bankrolling the ballroom.  

Among the guests were oil baron Harold Hamm, Blackstone chief executive Steve Schwarzman, and Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss.

'We're here to celebrate you, because you have given a tremendous amount of money to see a ballroom built,' he told the cheering crowd on Wednesday.

'In between China, Russia, everything else that we deal with, it's going to be a great ballroom... It is starting right behind us.'

Trump opened the gold curtains behind him to unveil the construction site.

'It will be demolished,' he said. 'Everything out there is coming down and it will be replaced by the most beautiful ballroom.'

On Monday, once construction started, the gold curtains in the East Room remained closed to drown out any noise, but the president referenced the project as he hosted two Louisiana State baseball teams at the White House. 

He said the East Room's primary east-facing window would serve as a 'knockout panel,' and transform into the entry-way for the 'most beautiful ballroom in the country.' 

'But that's a knock-out panel and that goes right into the ballroom,' the president explained. 'So you'll have drinks, cocktails, everything on this floor and they'll say "welcome to dinner," walk into the ballroom.'

The president confirmed construction on the project started Monday, amid the government shutdown. 

The ballroom is expected to have a capacity of 1,000 people and will be fitted with bulletproof glass.

'There won't be anything like it,' he said. 'Because of you, they're going to get it. And me too. So many of you have been really, really generous.'

Trump shared an anecdote of one of the donors in the room asking him 'sir, will $25 million be appropriate?'

'I'll take it. It doesn't take too many 25s [million dollars] to get it done.'

He said the donors had been so generous that he had 'money left over' which could be put toward the arch he wants to build opposite Arlington National Cemetery.

Trump wanted to construct a White House ballroom as far back as 2010, originally making the pitch to President Barack Obama's adviser David Axelrod. 

The president didn't like the look of the pop-up tents that First Lady Michelle Obama was using to host White House state dinners on the South Lawn.  

Since taking office, Trump has redecorated the Rose Garden, Oval Office and is in the process of renovating the Palm Room.