Karoline Leavitt Did Not Say ‘Nothing Will Be Torn Down’ for the White House Ballroom Renovations

The number of people on the left who are outraged by the demolition of the East Wing of the White House seems to be growing by the day. But it turns out there is some shoddy resistance journalism going on here. I’ll explain how in a moment, but first here’s the background for those who haven’t been tracking this story.

Social media is full of images of the demolition work and this if often being paired with claims that the White House previously promised not to do this. For instance, yesterday New York Magazine published a story titled, “The White House Lied About Destroying the White House.”

On Monday, an excavator was seen tearing into the entranceway to the East Wing, and by Tuesday, part of the wing itself had been demolished with one witness telling the Washington Post it appeared that more of the structure was slated for demolition. Employees of the neighboring Treasury Department, which has a front-row view of the construction work, were subsequently told not to share pictures of it. By Wednesday, the White House admitted the obvious: The East Wing is a goner.

Along with it went the promises made by Trump and other officials not to knock down part of the White House.

When the plans were first announced in July for a 90,000-square-foot addition at the site of the reconstructed East Wing, reassurances were made to preserve “the special history of the White House.” “Nothing will be torn down,” Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters at the time.

“It won’t interfere with the current building. It’ll be near it but not touching it,” Trump said at the time, adding that it would pay “total respect” to the White House.

The entire framing of this is wrong, as I’ll explain, but let’s look specifically at the two quotes NY Mag is relying on here, one by Trump and one from Karoline Leavitt. If you follow the link above, it takes you to an AP story published by NPR. Here’s what that story reported about those two quotes:

The Republican president had said in July when the project was announced that the ballroom would not interfere with the mansion itself.

“It’ll be near it but not touching it and pays total respect to the existing building, which I’m the biggest fan of,” he said of the White House.

The East Wing houses several offices, including those of the first lady. It was built in 1902 and has been renovated over the years, with a second story added in 1942, according to the White House.

Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said those East Wing offices will be temporarily relocated during construction and that wing of the building will be modernized and renovated.

“Nothing will be torn down,” Leavitt said when she announced the project in July.

First, notice that the AP story that NY Mag linked to clarifies that Trump was saying the new construction wouldn’t interfere “with the mansion itself.” In other words, the ballroom would be near the mansion but would not be touching it. He was not saying that the ballroom wouldn’t touch the East Wing. 

On the contrary, images released to the press this summer showed that the East Wing was going to be replaced by the ballroom. None of this was a surprise that reporters only found out about this week.

But what about Karoline Leavitt’s claim that “nothing will be torn down?” Surely the White House has violated that promise? If you check social media it’s full of people on the left claiming that statement is proof the White House lied:

Trump always lies about everything. When he announced this absurd ballroom project months ago, he had his people say “nothing will be torn down” and the “East Wing will be temporarily relocated.” And here’s what the East Wing looks like today: a gutted husk. pic.twitter.com/xsqKiBx1SZ

— Will Stancil (@whstancil) October 21, 2025

“Nothing will be torn down.” — Karoline Leavitt

“It won’t interfere with the current building. It pays total respect to the existing building, which I’m the biggest fan of.” — Donald Trump pic.twitter.com/m5lBVV9hL8

— No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen (@NoLieWithBTC) October 23, 2025

.@PressSec “Nothing will be torn down,” you said. Why should anyone believe anything you have to say? pic.twitter.com/oVg32BFdB1

— West Wing Report (Edited by Paul Brandus) (@WestWingReport) October 22, 2025

isn’t he replacing.. the entire East Wing?

— Jane Coaston 🏔️ (@janecoaston) October 22, 2025

and didn’t he and Karoline Leavitt say, “nothing will be torn down” back in July?

— Jane Coaston 🏔️ (@janecoaston) October 22, 2025

Here’s DNC Chair Ken Martin:

Trump admin then: “Nothing will be torn down”

Trump admin now: https://t.co/TPXfliPUOG

— Ken Martin (@kenmartin73) October 22, 2025

Sen. Jack Reed:

TRUMP in July 2025: The new ballroom will be “near” the existing building but won’t touch it. “Nothing will be torn down.”

TRUMP in Oct. 2025: pic.twitter.com/V2b7C2U7yP

— Senator Jack Reed (@SenJackReed) October 22, 2025

There are many more examples. The problem for all of these folks is that Karoline Leavitt didn’t say that. In fact, if you go to the current AP story on this it has a correction added to it:

In a story published July 31, 2025, the AP incorrectly attributed a quote to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt that “nothing will be torn down” in reference to construction of a new ballroom at the White House. It was a journalist, not Leavitt, who said the quote while asking a question during a briefing Leavitt gave to reporters on July 31. The error was brought to the AP’s attention on Oct. 22.

PBS ran an even longer correction noting that the AP got this wrong in two different stories:

CORRECTION: PBS News has updated an Oct. 21 story withdrawn by The Associated Press that quoted White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt as saying over the summer that “nothing will be torn down” in reference to construction starting at the White House on a ballroom and crews tearing down the façade of the East Wing. The AP incorrectly attributed that quote to Leavitt in that story and two others, one on July 31 and Oct. 20. It was a journalist, not Leavitt, who said the quote while asking a question during a briefing Leavitt gave to reporters on July 31. The error was brought to the AP’s attention on Oct. 22.

I dug up the July 31 press briefing when this was first announced and you can see the moment this happened and how, presumably, the transcript of this included a mistake. At the end of her opening announcement on that day, just before taking questions, Leavitt announced the plans for the new ballroom. This started at the 10-minute mark in the briefing. I’m going to include a bit of what she said because it rebuts the claim that the White House lied about the construction plans. [emphasis added]

We are proud to announce that the construction of the new White House ballroom will begin…

The project will begin in September 2025, and it is expected to be completed long before the end of President Trump’s term…

The White House ballroom will be substantially separated from the main building of the White House, but at the same time, its theme and architectural heritage will be almost identical. The site of the new ballroom, will be where the small, heavily changed and reconstructed East Wing currently sits. The East Wing was constructed in 1902 and has been renovated and changed many times with a second story added in 1942…

In the White House, we will continue to provide the American public and all of you in the press with updates on this project at whitehouse.gov/visit and if you go there shortly you will be able to see renderings and visuals of what this ballroom will look like both the exterior and the interior. I have provided some photos for all of you in this room today…

Leavitt then showed renderings of the inside and outside of the ballroom to the press corps adding, “As you can see, it will come off of the executive mansion as it sits today, and the east wing will be modernized and renovated.“

And that’s where the confusion entered. As Leavitt was speaking, a reporter who Leavitt identified as Jennifer interjected “But nothing will be torn down.” You can see that moment here, though you may have to turn up the sound to hear it:

   

I think the reporter is Jennifer Jacobs from CBS News. Leavitt did go back to her for the following exchange:

Jennifer Jacobs: How much of the East Swing will be torn down? The entire East swing or just parts of it? 

Karoline Leavitt: So the East Wing is going to be modernized. The necessary construction will take place. And for those who are housed in the East Swing, including the Office of the First Lady, the White House Military Office, the White house visitors offices, those offices will be temporarily relocated while the East swing is being modernized.

Here’s the same clip cued up to that exchange:

 

I guess it’s fair to say that Leavitt did avoid the words “torn down,” instead saying it would be “modernized and renovated.” However, she also made it pretty clear, including with pictures, that the ballroom was going to replace the current East Wing. 

And just like Trump said, she explained it would be near the mansion but not touching it. What she never said is the thing that is being widely attributed to her, “nothing will be torn down.” That came from a reporter, not the Press Secretary. 

Will we see any corrections from the other outlets repeating this mistake? So far, PBS is the only one I’ve seen.