Former Melania Trump aide: East Wing demolition 'breaks my heart'

Stephanie Grisham, a former aide to first lady Melania Trump, called the demolition of the White House’s East Wing "jarring," as construction is underway for President Trump's new ballroom.

“As someone who was obviously so privileged to work in the people’s house — I worked on both sides, the East Wing and the West Wing — it is jarring and it breaks my heart,” Grisham, who also served as a press secretary during Trump's first term, said Thursday during an appearance on CNN's "OutFront."

“It’s something that can never be put back," she told host Erin Burnett. "And I just, again, wish they would’ve gone about it in a better way.”

Grisham explained that Trump talked often about how the space was not "big enough" for White House events such as state dinners — and that she "tended to agree with him."

“We needed more space for some of our functions,” Grisham added.

She recalled one dinner when a White House social secretary put a band on the roof of the White House because the administration was “so cramped for space.”

Still, the former aide said she expected new construction to take place somewhere on the White House’s grounds, but not the East Wing.

“I certainly didn’t expect it to be demolished like a condemned house over three days or so,” Grisham said. 

Demolition of the White House’s East Wing — which was home to the first lady's office, the offices of the social secretary and calligrapher, as well as the movie theater and the presidential bunker — began Monday and was finished by Thursday. Preservationists and politicians criticized the renovation, which the White House called “a bold, necessary addition” in a Tuesday statement. 

The East Wing’s razing was done to make way for construction of the ballroom, which the administration announced plans for in July. Trump previously suggested that the entire East Wing would not be demolished during the construction efforts. 

Early estimates for the project put the cost around $200 million, a sum that has now increased to nearly $300 million. The administration earlier this week put out a list of donors for the renovation project.

“It’s just hard to see, just as a citizen,” Grisham said. 

She also said she believed the images of the East Wing being torn down may have also surprised Melania Trump, as the area has been used by first ladies for decades. She used the office during the first Trump administration and has not yet publicly spoken about the construction.

“I’m sure that the images are shocking to her,” Grisham said. “I wouldn’t doubt if she too was surprised by seeing them.”