One of the country’s most prominent cinemas has been demolished, though sources say it will soon be reborn.
The White House family theater, which has held movie screenings for Presidents, their families and other invited guests for decades, is among the structures removed from the East Wing as part of President Trump’s $300 million ballroom project.
Photos released Thursday show that the entire East Wing has been torn down, including the East Colonnade where the theater had been located.
A source familiar with the matter says that “the movie theater will be modernized and renovated with the rest of the East Wing.” It is not immediately known whether the White House will make the theater larger, or rebuild in the same footprint.
The facade of the East Wing of the White House is demolished by work crews on October 21, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
The 42-seat luxurious movie theater is a place where countless presidents, their families or staff have screened any movie of their choosing, whether the latest Hollywood blockbuster, an Oscar contender or a perennial classic. All it requires is a call to the Motion Picture Association, which then contacts a Hollywood studio or whomever is distributing the title. The theater is also used for official screenings to win over members of Congress or visiting dignitaries.
The top trade organization, which represents the legacy movie studios and Netflix, declined comment as to whether it knows of the future plans for the theater. No one in Hollywood so far appears to know, either.
The Trump administration is no exception when it comes to dialing up the Motion Picture Association and putting in an ask for films. Continuing the tradition he established during Trump’s first term, sources say the Trump White House has been fed a steady diet of new releases since he returned to office. (That doesn’t mean the President is always on hand to watch them, though Vice President Vance told podcaster Theo Von that he watched Gladiator 2 in the theater earlier this year.)
The East Wing demolition is part of a reported $300 million project to build a 90,000 square foot ballroom, which would accommodate events with about 900 guests. Trump revealed some renderings of the expansion in the Oval Office Wednesday.
In the past, White House events have been held in the East Room, which accommodates 200 people or a tent has been constructed on the grounds for larger events.
Trump has said that the ballroom will be financed by private donors, not taxpayers. The White House released a partial list of donors, a list that includes companies like Google (YouTube committed $22 million to the ballroom in its settlement with President Trump), Amazon, Meta, Comcast, Apple, Microsoft, T-Mobile, and former Marvel chief Ike Perlmutter’s family foundation.
The ballroom’s construction sparked some outrage over the expansive nature of the project, and a lack of transparency around the planning, though the White House says the full plans will ultimately be released.
In a statement earlier this week, the White House Press Office dismissed the critiques:
“In the latest instance of manufactured outrage, unhinged leftists and their Fake News allies are clutching their pearls over President Donald J. Trump’s visionary addition of a grand, privately funded ballroom to the White House — a bold, necessary addition that echoes the storied history of improvements and additions from commanders-in-chief to keep the executive residence as a beacon of American excellence,” the statement said.
One of the first movies Trump did watch when moving into the nation’s first home in January 2017 was Pixar’s Finding Dory. The timing of the screening, which was announced on his public schedule, drew outrage on social media considering it came a day after his immigration ban took effect (critics noted the film’s themes of beings separated from family). Protests swept the nation and continued outside the White House as he spent a Sunday afternoon with family and friends watching the animated pic.
And a year later, many were surprised when Donald Trump’s team asked for access to filmmaker Steven-Spielberg’s The Post for both 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. and Camp David, where the president is scheduled to host a summit on Saturday and Sunday with top GOP lawmakers. There was a certain amount of irony to The Post ask. Stars Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks have been longtime critics of the commander in chief, while Spielberg says he rushed to make the movie to remind people of the importance of the First Amendment amid the current political climate and Trump’s repeated attacks on the media.
Set in 1971, The Post recounts the decision by The Washington Post to publish the top-secret Pentagon Papers and the newspaper’s ensuing legal victory over the Nixon administration. Spielberg’s movie is also a tale of feminism. Publishing the Pentagon Papers was a defining moment for then-Post publisher Katharine Graham (Streep), as she cemented her standing in a man’s world. Hanks — who told THR at the time he would decline any invite to watch the film at the White House — plays legendary editor Ben Bradlee.
President George W. Bush prepares for his inaugural address in the family theater of the White House Jan. 18, 2005 in Washington, DC.
Photo by Eric Draper/White House via Getty Images
Hollywood has made its movies available to the White House dating back to the early 1900s. The first film to be shown inside the White House was 1915’s The Birth of a Nation, which was screened by Woodrow Wilson.
And in 1942, at the direction of then-president Franklin D. Roosevelt, the East Terrace cloakroom known as the Hat Box was converted into a movie theater. Four decades later, President Ronald Reagan — a former Hollywood actor — ordered a major remodeling that resulted in a total of 51 seats and tiered rows. There also was a more recent refurbishment in the mid-2004 at the direction of First Lady Laura Bush. Movies can also be watched on Air Force One.
President George W. Bush considered the theater a political asset, whether in trying to win over rivals, support a cause or bridge-building. In his book, Decision Points, President Bush quickly warmed up to British first couple Prime Minister Tony Blair and his wife Cherie when they asked if they could watch Meet the Parents during a Visit at Camp David.
And after Barack Obama left office, Hollywood insiders revealed that the Obama White House consistently asked for access to new releases.
“There was never a film they didn’t request to watch,” said an executive at one studio at the time. President Obama’s office also routinely requested awards screeners (including La La Land and other Oscar contenders). Another source said at the time that an ask even came in to watch Monster Trucks several days before Barack and Michelle Obama and their daughters, Malia and Sasha, left the White House for good on Jan. 20, 2017.
U.S. first lady Melania Trump (R) and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos host 30 sixth-grade students from Digital Pioneers Academy for a screening of the motion picture ‘Wonder’ in the White House movie theater October 23, 2018
Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
In 2017, first lady Melania Trump announced that the public for the very first time would be allowed a peek inside the private theater when touring the East Wing. “The White House belongs to the people of this country,” she said. “I believe everyone who takes the time to visit and tour the White House should have as much access to its rich history and wonderful traditions as possible. It is my hope that our visitors truly enjoy the newest piece of the tour.” (At the same time, the first lady said nothing about allowing the public to actually watch a film in the screening room.)
She couldn’t have known the tour of the East Wing is now a very different proposition.