President Donald Trump has defended the expansion of the White House Ballroom and pushed back on new cost overrun reports.
Trump took to Truth Social on Wednesday and stated that the original proposal for the ballroom situated on the East side of the White House, estimated at $200 million, was inadequate for handling necessary events, meetings, and future inaugurations. As a result, the project was expanded to twice its size and improved in quality, leading to a revised cost of less than $400 million.
The president accused the “Fake News” of failing to report the necessary changes made to the project long ago, thereby creating a false impression of cost overrun.
Trump emphasized that the project was coming in ahead of schedule and under budget, contrary to claims by the media.
“Highest quality completed project will be something less than 400 Million Dollars,” Trump wrote.
Trump’s statement comes in response to concerns raised by California Governor Gavin Newsom and investor Spencer Hakimian about the ballooning costs of the White House East Wing-related projects. Newsom had questioned the reported increase in costs after a $1 billion Secret Service funding allocation sparked claims of a taxpayer-funded ballroom project. Hakimian, on the other hand, posted on X that Trump’s ballroom would now cost $1 billion and be fully taxpayer-funded, sharing a screenshot of a federal budget provision.
On Tuesday, a long-term immigration and border patrol funding bill by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) showed $1 billion appropriated to the U.S. Secret Service for “security adjustments and upgrades” within the White House perimeter, including the “East Wing Modernization Project” with above- and below-ground security features. “None of the funds made available under this section may be used for non-security elements of the East Wing Modernization Project,” the bill mentioned.
When unveiling the ballroom plans last year, Trump said it would host large events at the White House without costing anything to the taxpayers. After the White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting incident in late April, Trump called the planned ballroom a security necessity, saying its design could have prevented the incident and urged that construction move forward without delays.
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
Image via Shutterstock
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