Did Trump tear down the East Wing because of Melania?

[kentuck]

I think it is possible.

In a rage, I could see him tearing down the only place she would stay while she was in the White House, the East Room. It is reported that she really liked her small office there.

It's a petty thing but America has a petty president.

She will be the First Lady in name only. She will not have a place to stay if there is no East Room. Maybe she did not want to sleep in Lincoln's bedroom?

Why the big hurry to tear down the place?

[no_hypocrisy]

1. I give you credence in your theory.

Notice that he couldn't wait to tear it down, wanted to do it at night to avoid observation and recording.

And he didn't have plans to immediately start building on the site after the destruction.

[OAITW r.2.0]

2. As good an explanation as any, imho.

No one wanted this...why did we let a temporary occupant decide to change the structure?

[RockRaven]

3. Also consider his particular animus to 2 of the previous 4 first ladies.

OTOH, he is also just a destroyer at heart, and the East Wing was the least personally inconvenient part to destroy.

[mzmolly]

4. I expect so. It also gives her cover for not being around

much.

[Raine]

5. I wonder about that too

Trump said Melania loved her little office in the East Wing, so obviously he tore it down.

[Wiz Imp]

6. The East Room is not part of the (former) East Wing.

The East Room is an event and reception room in the Executive Residence of the White House complex, the home of the president of the United States. The East Room is the largest room in the Executive Residence; it is used for dances, receptions, press conferences, ceremonies, concerts, and banquets. The East Room was one of the last rooms to be finished and decorated, and it has undergone substantial redecoration over the past two centuries. Since 1964, the Committee for the Preservation of the White House has, by executive order, advised the president of the United States and first lady on the decor, preservation, and conservation of the East Room and other public rooms at the White House.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Room
State Floor

Second Floor

Third Floor

https://www.tyla.com/news/politics/melania-donald-trump-white-house-separate-bedrooms-038118-20250122

In CNN correspondent Kate Bennett's book Free, Melania, she noted that Trump slept in the White House master suite on the second floor, while Melania's bedroom was on the floor above.

[Irish_Dem]

7. I had the same thought.

He was getting back at Melania for some imagined or real grievance.

And telling her she has no power.
Not even an office.

[Red Mountain]

8. He's trying to be a good husband

the only way he knows how......she's got nothing left to decorate for the holidays.

[leftstreet]

9. He did it right after No Kings

just sayin

[Ms. Toad]

10. He tore it down as part of his threat to do things that couldn't be fixed during the shut-down. n/t

[Stacey Grove]

11. He'd treat her like any other prostitute, I suppose.