Donald Trump biographer Michael Wolff shared what he said was a secret plan by the president to hide the scale of his White House renovation project.
During a podcast interview on Tuesday Wolff, who has written four books about Trump claimed the president attempted to use an "old real estate trick" he learned while working as a developer in New York.
"He got into this by saying the White House itself would not be touched," he told the Daily Beast.
"It's just going to be an add-on," Wolff said, referring to Trump's ballroom. "And then of course, the White House was really touched, with the wrecking ball. So when they came to him—the building, the contracting team, the engineering team—they had a meeting and they said it really would be much cheaper and faster just to tear down the East Wing."
"This was given to me as a quote. He said, 'Can we do the demolition at night?'" Wolff added.
Along with the amount of redeveloped space, the cost of Trump's ballroom project has also swelled. Initially, the president estimated the project would cost around $200 million. Recently, he has said the cost was closer to $350 million.
"What you tear down, you cannot build back," Wolff said. "So, it's a fait accompli."