During a recent interview with Fox News’ Laura Ingraham, President Donald Trump addressed claims that First Lady Melania Trump was displeased with the demolition of the White House’s East Wing, traditionally associated with the First Lady’s office. The conversation followed a Wall Street Journal article suggesting Melania was unhappy about the East Wing’s removal, which is being replaced with a “big, beautiful ballroom” funded through private contributions, potentially costing up to $300 million.

Trump responded by acknowledging Melania’s initial fondness for her office, but noted her quick adaptation to the changes, saying, “She loved her little tiny office, but you know what? She’s very smart, and if you ask her now, she thinks it’s great.” He elaborated that while the East Wing might sound appealing, it had undergone numerous renovations, including a poorly executed additional floor. “It looked like hell,” he remarked, emphasizing his preference for a superior ballroom over maintaining the altered structure.

Though former First Ladies Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama publicly expressed their disapproval of the East Wing’s demolition, Melania Trump has remained silent on the issue. During the interview, Ingraham highlighted Michelle Obama’s criticism, where she argued that removing the East Wing diminishes the First Lady’s office’s significance. Trump countered by describing the previous state of the building as a “poor, sad sight,” reaffirming his decision to prioritize the new ballroom over the old structure.

He also said Obama ‘wouldn’t mind’ a new ballroom, calling attention to the tents she had erected on the South Lawn whenever she and President Barack Obama wanted to host a larger state dinner. The East Wing offices are expected to be moved back to the larger ballroom complex, once construction is completed. The East Wing’s demolition was met with controversy in part because the president bypassed any sort of historic preservation review.

Trump had appointed Staff Secretary Will Scharf to lead the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC), the government agency charged with providing planning guidance to Washington, D.C.and the surrounding area. Scharf argued that NCPC doesn’t monitor demolitions, just construction. In addition, the NCPC was closed due to the government shutdown.

That allowed the project to go forward without any oversight and without public meetings. The modern East Wing dated back to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who expanded the building in part to hide his World War II bunker and to give office space to First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. The original construction of an East Wing building happened during the administration of his distant cousin, President Teddy Roosevelt.