The White House’s East Wing is gone. With its demise, President Donald Trump continues to rewrite history, including the traditions of how a US president can take a bulldozer to the “people’s house.”

For Trump, the East Wing had to be demolished to make way for a 90,000-square foot ballroom to host foreign dignitaries and 999 guests. It’s a massive $350 million project he said will be paid for by private donors.

The viral images of the demolition awakened intense emotions ranging from horror to celebration, and stirred questions of what this new White House means for everyday Americans.

“[There are] those that do see it representing prosperity; that certainly can be aspirational,” said Debbie Millman, designer and educator at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. “But that’s not the status of most Americans.”

We spoke with Millman about Trump’s legacy of destroying historical artifacts and enraging the public. It’s a legacy that began with his father Fred Trump, and shares a throughline with the architectural visions of monarchs and dictators.

Below is an excerpt of the conversation, edited for length and clarity. There’s much more in the full podcast, so listen to Today, Explained wherever you get podcasts, including Apple Podcasts, Pandora, and Spotify.

What is your gut reaction to what you see happening at the White House right now?

Oh, my gut reaction is one of heartbreak. It’s really sad to see what’s happening, to see the demolition, to see this historic wing of the White House demolished. He’s essentially done this on his own without any input or counsel from preservationists or historians. He’s not gotten any, at all, to do something like this.

If you go to the White House website, they very craftily put up a historical list of other........

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