When President Trump left the White House Friday for a 17-day vacation at his New Jersey Golf Club, it was likely the last time he would see part of the house in its current form.
The West Wing is undergoing an renovations during the President’s vacation, upgrading the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems, the steps on the South Lawn, the lower lobby, and the Navy Mess kitchen, as well as cosmetic upgrades like carpet changes, White House Deputy Press Secretary Lindsay Walters told reporters
The renovations will amount to slightly over $3 million, said Walters; $1.965 million for upgrading the HVAC systems, and $1.17 million for carpet replacements. Refreshing the paintings will amount to $275,000. The renovations for the HVAC systems were awarded in 2014, during the Obama administration, and the carpet replacements and painting refreshes were factored into the FY2017 budget.
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“This expenditure is in line, or under, what the past three prior administrations have spent,” Walters wrote in an e-mail to Fortune.
All staff in the West Wing have been relocated to the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, which is next door to the White House, for the duration of the renovations.
