White House to be renovated

Washington, Aug 4 : US President Donald Trump and his staff are set to temporarily move out of the West Wing as its renovation gets underway, the media said.

Trump will leave on Friday for what the White House has called a 17-day extended "working vacation" at his golf club in New Jersey, while his staff in Washington will clear the West Wing and move into the Eisenhower Executive Office Building next door, reports The Hill magazine.

Work has already begun to replace the West Wing's 27-year-old heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system, a White House official told the media on Thursday.

White House Deputy Press Secretary Lindsay Walters told reporters that the South Portico steps on the South Lawn will also be repaired. Those steps have not been restored since President Dwight Eisenhower was in the White House (1953-61).

Among the other facets of the White House that will be refurbished are the Navy mess kitchen, the building's lower lobby, the information technology (IT) system and other "generic cosmetic upgrades".