Michelle Obama Explains Why She ‘Felt Confusion’ Amid President Trump’s East Wing Demolition

Michelle Obama was left with many questions after the White House renovations.

On Tuesday, November 25, the former First Lady, 61, appeared as a guest on the Jamie Kern Lima Show and revealed her initial reaction to President Donald Trump‘s changes to the East Wing.

“What did it feel like for you and your body when you saw the East Wing being demolished?” Kern Lima asked.

“It’s not about me, it’s about us and our traditions and what they stand for,” the IMO podcast host remarked. “I think in my body I felt confusion because I’m like, ‘Well, who are we? What do we value and who decides that?’”

“That’s the thing that’s going through my head a lot lately. ‘Who are we? What are the rules?’ Because I’m confused, what are our norms and our mores? Not the laws, but how do we live together?” Obama questioned. “That’s the part of it that hurts. It’s not the house.”

“I’m just, you know, just trying to understand the assignment. And so I think I felt a loss for us as a nation,” she added. “Personally, you know, that’s not our house. That’s the People’s House.”

Last month, the commander-in-chief demolished the East Wing, where the First Lady’s offices were typically located, to build a $300 million, 90,000-square-foot ballroom.

As Globe previously reported, the Becoming author criticized the demolition in her interview with Vanity Fair, published earlier this month.

“When we talk about the East Wing, it is the heart of the work,” she told the publication. “And to denigrate it, to tear it down, to pretend like it doesn’t matter — it’s a reflection of how you think of that role.”