The White House’s East Wing, much like the palaces of past rulers, reflects how leaders shape history through architecture; this raises questions such as: Possible costs? Purpose? Opinions? And importantly legacy?
Hey! Put your shoes on, this isn’t your house! On July 31st of 2025 an official statement was released from the White House. President Donald Trump has decided to make space in the White House to hold more people for events by completely renovating the east wing. The main concern of this plan is the amount of money required to build and expand such a large project, many question where funding is being sourced from when government funding crises are occurring in our country. According to the official website of the White House, Trump has decided to renovate the White House's East Wing with the purpose of creating more large event space for the White House staff and future administrations. The White House, also known as the House of the People, was built between 1792 and 1800 in Washington DC. The construction of the White House wasn’t as smooth sailing as one would expect. Following the George Washington presidency, former president John Addams was the first to inhabit the still unfinished White House. During the war of 1812, the British set the house on fire, requiring construction to take place once again. James Hoban, the man selected to create the first design of the White house was once again appointed to assist in the reconstruction. Following other administrations, many presidents followed renovations of the White House, including James Monroe, Andrew Jackson and Theodore Roosevelt. During the Roosevelt presidency, in 1902 the Preside Crest office was moved from the second floor to what is now the West Wing. How does it all affect Paso Robles Bearcats? There's a few concerns starting with funding. In America, we are in a decade where students across the U. S have lost about $600 billion from the state's disinvestment, according to the Education Law Center. This means that public schools aren’t getting as much funding as we used to have teachers and resources for students. Here at Paso Robles, we are forced to question if we will still have access to certain opportunities that come from this funding like the after school Math Lab and apps that we use in class. Jay Avila, Sophomore AP Euro students, gives opinions:
“I think it's absurd that the Trump administration is getting to spend the money on renovations. People need the funding in schools for electives and extracurriculars and the free school lunches. Those priorities are getting ignored for them to build on this historical structure that's being destroyed.”
Another concern? Considering all of the history that follows the White House and considering that the White House is a “historical structure” do we have the right to taint with History? Avila says,
“I think that historical structures should be preserved. They're monuments for a reason. They show our history, even if they don’t present the greatest history, they still present our history.”
PRHS’s students and citizens alike are questioning whether or not this renovation made on the White House reflects the nation's priorities or if it simply reshapes its past to pave the way for the future.