By admin 
Support justice-driven, accurate and transparent news — make a quick donation to Truthout today!
Read more Leaked Iran Agreement Contradicts Trump’s Claims About $300B Postwar Aid
A review of a contract relating to the proposed construction of a White House ballroom indicates that the project will require hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer funds — despite previous promises from the Trump administration that it wouldn’t cost taxpayers anything.
As costs for the project began to rise, President Donald Trump reiterated in late March that funds for the ballroom’s construction wouldn’t come from the federal government.
“This is taxpayer-free. We have no taxpayer putting up 10 cents,” Trump said at the time.
But according to a new report from The Washington Post, a summary of plans crafted by Virginia-based Clark Construction — the contractor tasked with building the new ballroom — showed that half of the project’s funding would indeed be derived from taxpayers.
That analysis was formulated three weeks prior to Trump’s promise that no taxpayer dollars would fund the project.
What’s more, the cost of the project has soared up to $600 million, according to that summary. Half of that amount, around $300 million, would come from taxpayer sources.
The total projected cost for Trump’s ballroom is more than three times higher than the initial $200 million estimate provided by the administration last summer.
Read more Trump Admin Admits to Using Grok to Bomb Iran In Federal Lawsuit Backing Musk
The sources for funding the project include $155 million from the Secret Service, $149 million from the White House Military Office, and $3 million from the Executive Residence fund. All three of those agencies receive funding through the collection of federal tax dollars.
In response to The Washington Post’s reporting, Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Washington) blasted members of the GOP for allowing the project to happen, and for focusing on the wrong priorities.
“Republicans are cutting healthcare, while funneling millions to Trump’s ballroom. Unacceptable,” Jayapal said.
Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-New Mexico) similarly panned the revelation that $300 million in taxpayer funds could go toward building the ballroom.
“Welcome to Donald Trump’s America. Where families and people living on the edge have lost healthcare, can’t afford groceries, & the President is using your taxpayer dollars to build a ballroom & host fights on the White House lawn,” Stansbury wrote in a Bluesky post.
A majority of Americans oppose Trump’s ballroom project. Asked in a poll in April whether they backed the construction of the ballroom, 56 percent said they did not, while just 28 percent said they did. Notably, that poll indicated to respondents that the project would cost $400 million, and would be funded entirely by private donors.
Read more Minnesota Trade Unionists Are Among the Federally Indicted ICE Observers