White House East Wing will be torn down ‘within days’ even as no plans filed for Trump’s new ballroom

Demolition has drawn fierce backlash, with National Trust for Historic Preservation saying plans are legally required'

• Trump takes a wrecking ball to White House in on-the-nose metaphor

Trump administration officials confirmed to various outlets on Wednesday that the White House's East Wing will be demolished within days", a revelation given the administration has not submitted plans for the new ballroom to the federal agency that oversees construction of federal buildings.

In discussion with reporters in the Oval Office, Donald Trump was asked by Jeff Mason of Reuters to respond to the widespread surprise that the entire East Wing is being torn down. Trump said the wing he described as a separate building was never thought of as being much; it was a very small building".