Trump says White House renovation is ‘music to my ears’ as criticism mounts

US President Donald Trump defended his decision to demolish part of the White House’s East Wing and build a ballroom, describing the construction as “music to my ears” despite growing criticism of the project.

Speaking to Republican senators at the White House on Tuesday, Trump also said: “You probably hear the beautiful sound of construction in the background… When I hear that sound, it reminds me of money.”

Trump, a former property developer, is spending $250 million (£186 million) on a new 90,000 sq ft (8,360 sq ft) ballroom to host parties, state visits and other events.

But since the work began Monday, some critics have spoken out, including his onetime rival Hillary Clinton.

Also Tuesday, the leader of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, a Washington nonprofit that preserves U.S. historic sites, wrote a letter to White House officials saying he was “deeply concerned” by the project.

The size of the new construction would “exceed even the White House… and could also permanently disrupt the carefully balanced classical design of the White House, with its smaller and lower East and West Wings,” the letter said.

The foundation asked Trump to pause the demolition, arguing that the White House is a national historic landmark and officials should conduct a public review process for the ballroom plan.

Another group, the Association of Architectural Historians, said it had “major concerns” about the project and similarly called for a review process due to the size of the planned construction.

The White House also responded to its critics, writing in a news release that “deranged leftists” were clutching their pearls about “President Donald J Trump’s addition of a large, privately funded ballroom to the White House – a bold and necessary addition.”

Trump officials also insisted that the renovation would not come at any cost to U.S. taxpayers and that there was nothing improper in soliciting private donations for it, as Trump did.

Many Democrats have criticized the renewal, including Clinton, who ran against Trump for the US presidency in 2016.

Addressing his followers on X, W wrote that the White House is not Trump’s home. “This is your home. And he’s destroying it.”

The White House has undergone many renovations and restorations since it was built in the late 1700s. In 1948, then-President Harry Truman gutted the White House, which was at risk of collapse, and added a balcony on the outside.

Over the years, presidents added swimming pools, bowling alleys and other touches; But critics stressed that Trump’s additions were the biggest changes to the White House’s exterior in decades.

White House officials said the project did not need approval from the National Capital Planning Commission, which oversees the construction and renovation of government buildings in Washington and is chaired with Trump’s help.

But L Preston Bryant Jr., the commission’s former chairman, told The Associated Press that previous administrations worked closely with the agency on major construction projects and began with “early consultation” before renovations began.