President Donald Trump is defending the growing cost of his White House ballroom project after estimated costs to complete its construction have nearly doubled.
In a Truth Social post on Wednesday, Trump acknowledged that the construction project’s price tag has gone up from around $200 million to “something less than 400.” But he claimed that the end result “will be magnificent, safe, and secure.”
“The only reason the cost has changed is because, after deep rooted studies, it is approximately twice the size, and a far higher quality, than the original proposal, which would not have been adequate to handle the necessary events, meetings, and even future Inaugurations,” Trump said. “This was a necessary change, it was done long ago, but the Fake News failed to report it, trying to make it look like there was a cost overrun. Actually, it is coming in ahead of schedule, and under budget!”
Read More: What We Know About the ‘Massive’ Military Complex Being Built Beneath the White House
The President’s post comes after Senate Republicans included a stipulation in a funding bill for immigration enforcement that they are seeking to push through, in which they allocate $1 billion “for the purposes of security adjustments and upgrades, including within the perimeter fence of the White House Compound to support enhancements by the United States Secret Service relating to the East Wing Modernization Project, including above-ground and below-ground security features.” The bill does not explicitly name Trump’s proposed ballroom.
A separate bill put forth by a group of GOP senators, led by Lindsey Graham, proposed providing $400 million in funding for the ballroom project, which would be offset by customs fees.
Trump previously said that the project would be funded by private donations.
Democrats have pushed back on the ballroom project. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries called it a “vanity project that resulted from the destruction that was unauthorized of the East Wing of the White House.”
On Tuesday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer expressed his opposition to the funding package that Republicans are seeking to pass, which includes the $1 billion for White House security enhancements.
“Republicans are on a different planet than American families,” Schumer said in a post on X. “Republicans looked at families drowning in bills and decided what they really needed was more raids and a Trump ballroom.”
The Administration began tearing down the White House’s East Wing in October, in order to begin construction on the President’s ballroom project.
In December, a preservation group filed a legal challenge against the project, arguing that the construction was unlawful. In March, a judge ruled that the Administration had to halt construction until Congress authorizes the initiative—but that some work could continue if it was “necessary to ensure the safety and security of the White House.”
The President and members of his Administration have responded by arguing that the project will enhance security measures, particularly because it includes a large military complex underneath the ballroom that will replace the Presidential Emergency Operations Center—a secure underground bomb shelter that was built during World War II.
“The ballroom essentially becomes a shed for what’s being built under the military, including from drones and including from any other thing,” Trump told reporters on March 29. He added that the ballroom would have “high grade bulletproof glass.”
On March 31, he told reporters that, per the judge’s ruling, the Administration was “allowed to continue building as necessary to cover the safety and security of the White House and its grounds.”
“Well, that’s what we’re doing, because everything’s bulletproof glass, etc. etc., including the ballroom,” the President said. “We have bio defense all over. We have secure telecommunications and communications all over. We have bomb shelters that we’re building. We have a hospital and very major medical facilities that we’re building. We have all of these things, so that’s called: I’m allowed to continue building as necessary.”
Administration officials have disclosed little else about the underground portion of the project. White House director of management and administration, Joshua Fisher, said at a National Capital Planning Commission meeting earlier this year that “there are some things regarding this project that are, frankly, of top-secret nature that we are currently working on.”
After the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ dinner in April, Trump and Republican lawmakers reiterated their claims that the ballroom project is important for security purposes, with some suggesting that Congress provide the $400 million needed to fund its construction.
The post Trump’s White House Ballroom Keeps Growing in Size and Cost appeared first on TIME.
