Deck (most of) the Halls: Minus East Wing, White House Tours Expected to Resume for Holidays Next Month

WASHINGTON – The demolition of the White House’s East Wing will not stop this year’s annual holiday tours.

But the White House is offering a revised tour route for the thousands of visitors it brings in each year.

Tours will restart Dec. 2, just in time for the holiday season.

Traditionally, White House visitors for any public event usually lined up on the sidewalk between the White House and the Treasury Department and then entered the mansion through the East Wing.

But since President Donald Trump had the East Wing demolished to make way for a massive, $300 million ballroom, the path of the tours will be different this year.

The new tour route will start and end through the White House’s North Portico, which is where the main entrance faces Pennsylvania Avenue, according to the White House Historical Association.

Visitors will be welcomed into the traditional spaces on the first floor of the White House, including the Cross Hall, East Room, State Dining Room, Blue Room, Red Room and the Green Room.

Participants in December tours will have the opportunity to see the White House Christmas decorations on the first floor overseen by First Lady Melania Trump.

The first lady has received some criticism in the past for her choice of decorations. In 2017, she lined the hallway of the now-demolished East Colonnade with buckets of white branches. In 2018, she filled the hallway in the East Wing with dark red berry Christmas trees. Many saw Trump’s decorations as unconventional.

White House tours were suspended in late August due to the East Wing demolition.

After the end of a record-breaking, 43-day federal government shutdown, the White House Visitors Center reopened on Nov. 14, operating under its usual business hours of 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

The Office of the First Lady said that tour requests through congressional offices opened on Nov. 3.

“Tour availabilities for December 2025 will open 30 days prior to each potential tour date,” according to the White House website. “Tour availabilities for January 2026 are slated to be made available to congressional offices sometime in December.”

The public may obtain tour information through their members of Congress or may visit whitehouse.gov/visit.

By HOLLIDAY WOODARD
Capital News Service