Republicans were quick to defend Trump’s decision to tear down the East Wing. Democrats think the images are “symbolic.”

Under a nearly-60-year-old law, the White House and several other notable buildings are exempt from a key historic preservation rule - though one expert told the BBC that presidents typically follow it anyway. Trump's renovation appears to be the biggest in decades, but the president of the US does have the power to make those changes.

Donald Trump Jr. says Democrats have "lost the plot" over White House ballroom controversy as critics slam demolition of East Wing for privately funded renovation project.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt defended President Donald Trump as a “builder-in-chief" amid backlash from critics over the demolition of a part of the East Wing.

President Trump says it was he who called off his anticipated second summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin. They were to meet in Hungary to discuss an end to the war in Ukraine, but the president says it didn't feel right to meet with Putin at this time,