Who is Mark Thompson? CNN's CEO reportedly told his reporters to ease up on the coverage of Trump's East Wing demolition after White House visit

CNN CEO Mark Thompson has reportedly urged his reporters to go easy on the coverage of the East Wing demolition carried out by Trump to build his ballroom. According to The Daily Beast, this popped up after Thompson's alleged VIP visit to the White House.

According to reports by Status, on Wednesday, as the East Wing was demolished, Thompson appeared at the White House. While there has been no official confirmation about the same, the news about Thompson appearing at the White House was reported by individuals familiar with the situation. 

Mark Thompson became the CEO of CNN in August 2023. Born in July 1957 in London, Thompson attended Stonyhurst College and Merton College, Oxford. His career reportedly started in 1979 when he joined the BBC as a production trainee. Later, he served the role of Director-General in the BBC from 2004 to 2012.

According to his profile on the official website of Warner Bros. Discovery,

"Mark stepped down as president and CEO of The New York Times Company in the summer of 2020 after an eight-year tenure (2012-20) during which he led the transformation of the 170-year-old news brand into a digital powerhouse."

For the unversed, the $300 million ballroom project kicked off last week with the demolition of the East Wing of the White House. The Daily Beast report added that the ballroom is twice the size of the rest of the White House.

Trump has decided to go ahead with the project, with the ballroom now expected to be bigger than initially planned

Despite massive criticism and scrutiny, Donald Trump did not back down with his plans of constructing a huge ballroom by demolishing the East Wing. According to reports by CNN, the ballroom is now expected to be larger than initially planned. While no official confirmation has been made about it, the same was communicated by people associated with it.

It is, however, unclear as to how big the ballroom will be. Last week, on Wednesday, Trump confirmed that the project would cost around $300 million, which is about a hundred million more than what was initially decided.

The project has received mixed reactions from netizens. While many bashed Trump and accused him of destroying the building, others defended him, stating that he wasn't the first president to execute renovations in the White House. According to them, several US presidents, like Theodore Roosevelt, Barack Obama, and Harry Truman, had made changes to the building.

Some well-known figures, too, raised their voices against this construction. Ronald Reagan’s daughter Patti Davis called the situation "heartbreaking." Meanwhile, Chelsea Clinton also was of the same belief and claimed that the President was taking a "wrecking ball to our heritage."

Another allegation that popped up was that the project did not get sufficient approvals. However, the White House stated that the National Capital Planning Commission did not have the authority to decide on the demolition of the East Wing. Last week, Trump addressed the demolition and claimed that it had to be done to ensure proper construction of the ballroom.

Meanwhile, several photos of the demolition have been popping up all across social media, prompting netizens to share their take on the same.