Treasury Secretary Says East Wing Demolition Is Fine Because There 'Could Have' Been Mold
Source: Huff Post
Oct 26, 2025, 05:36 PM EDT | Updated 10 hours ago
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he endorsed President Donald Trump demolishing the East Wing of the White House to build a $300 million, 90,000-square-foot ballroom. “[Construction] is moving at warp speed, and I think it’s going to be something that all Americans can be proud of,” Bessent said Sunday on “Meet The Press.” The East Wing of the White House was demolished on Thursday to begin construction of the new ballroom.
Preservation groups have expressed concern over the construction because there was little communication on how it would affect the structure of the main building. In July, Trump initially said the ballroom construction project wouldn’t “interfere with the current building.” “It’ll be near it, but not touching it, and pays total respect to the existing building, which I’m the biggest fan of,” Trump said in July. But that doesn’t seem to be the case. The entire East Wing was torn down last week.
When “Meet The Press” host Kristen Welker asked Bessent why Trump didn’t tell the public that the entire East Wing would be torn down, Bessent defended Trump, saying asbestos or mold could have led to the destruction. “I completely endorse what the president is doing here with the ballroom, and I assume that maybe parts of the East Wing could have been asbestos, could have been mold, could have not fit with the design,” Bessent said.
It’s unclear if the White House had asbestos or mold. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization, a nonprofit aimed at preventing asbestos exposure, called on the administration to be transparent with its safety measures during the demolition to “reaffirm its commitment to prevention, accountability, and the protection of public health in all federal construction projects.” The organization said the East Wing was built “during a period of extensive asbestos use in government buildings.”
Read more: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/treasury-secretary-scott-bessent-east-wing-demolition-mold_n_68fe7dbce4b0049ce5fd3e40?origin=home-zone-b-unit
During the ARRA (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) period under Obama, many federal buildings, including mine, had extensive renovations done including asbestos abatement. My building was a FDR CCC building and obviously had asbestos in it. Anything undergoing construction within the building had mitigation (including thick plastic curtains around the area) and environmental monitoring equipment was in place for air testing during the whole project.
It doesn't even seem the necessary evaluation work was done before ripping that structure down and leaving a pile of what is probably asbestos, lead (from old paint), and other hazardous substances in the debris.
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That historic building has more care than any edifice in the country! This is just one more lie from this autocratic administration just like blowing up boats in international waters saying that there "could" be drugs aboard!
of tearing down the building so abruptly knowing that there was probably asbestos in the materials.
Meanwhile, if what Bessent said was the reason for taking down the East Wing, I suppose they just need to tear down the entire White House, right? 
that all the White House staff and officials will be breathing all that mold and asbestos into their lungs daily in the future. 
