The wrecking of part of the White House’s East Wing to make way for President Trump’s ballroom is striking a nerve with his critics who see it as an overhaul of a historic building for a gaudy personal project.

Images of an excavator tearing into parts of the White House went viral on Monday, eliciting the latest outrage over Trump’s efforts to rapidly remake the nation’s capital in his preferred image.

That has included paving over the Rose Garden grass, installing flag poles on the White House lawn, covering the Oval Office in gold accents, taking control of the Kennedy Center and deploying the National Guard around Washington, D.C.

Trump is also leaving a lasting mark on the federal government, having spearheaded a dramatic reduction in the size of the workforce, a reconfiguration of some departments and the elimination of entire agencies while largely sidelining Congress to implement his agenda.

But the ballroom project has struck a particular nerve.

Historians said the construction both struck at the literal edifice of the building and the symbolism the “People’s House” represents.

Ed Lengel, who served as the chief historian for the White House Historical Association from 2016 to 2018, told The Hill that even Trump’s previous changes, such as the installation of flag poles on the North Lawn and South Lawn, the redecoration of the Oval Office and the changes to the Rose Garden, were “nothing unusual” and that presidents through history have “put their own personal stamp on the White House.”

“The thing that is unprecedented about this is the construction of the ballroom,” Lengel said. “There's........

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