{"id":1458,"date":"2026-08-14T04:37:33","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T04:37:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1458"},"modified":"2026-08-14T04:37:33","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T04:37:33","slug":"fountains-ballroom-and-a-helipad-trumps-white-house-projects-cost-nearly-1b","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1458","title":{"rendered":"Fountains, Ballroom, and a Helipad: Trump\u2019s White House Projects Cost Nearly $1B"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Truthout is an indispensable resource for activists, movement leaders and workers everywhere. Please make this work possible with a <\/span><\/i>quick donation<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Read more EPA Punts Microplastics Monitoring as Scientists Warn of Health Impacts<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The cost of President Donald Trump\u2019s various White House construction projects has ballooned to nearly $1 billion, going from a $200 million ballroom construction funded by private donors last year to a massive, multi-front undertaking that will largely be funded with taxpayer money.<\/p>\n

According to an analysis of contracts and planning documents by The Washington Post<\/em>, the Trump administration has plans to spend at least $927 million on various projects.<\/p>\n

The majority of this is being spent on Trump\u2019s new ballroom, which reports have found is slated to cost $600 million, though the Trump administration says it will cost $400 million. Meanwhile, the administration has embarked on other projects: the building of a helipad, a new underground visitor screening center, a revamp of the nearby Lafayette Square, and $100 million in maintenance.<\/p>\n

The sources of this funding are shrouded in mystery. The White House has reportedly funnelled at least $875 million in funding to an account that typically only holds a few million dollars for routine maintenance, as Congress typically appropriates $2.5 million annually for such purposes.<\/p>\n

White House spokesperson Davis Ingles cited the U.S.\u2019s 250th anniversary as reasoning for the projects. \u201cThanks to the Builder-in-Chief, the White House will be properly glorified and remain in excellent condition for generations to come,\u201d Ingles said.<\/p>\n

The majority of the money appears to be taken from public funds, the Post<\/em> reports. One major portion of the funding, for instance, is $415 million from the Secret Service \u2014 which was funnelled into the account earlier this year after Congress declined to pass funding for Trump\u2019s East Wing and visitor center projects amid an affordability crisis spurred in part by Trump\u2019s war on Iran.<\/p>\n

Read more Trump Has Dismantled Federal Civil Rights Enforcement, New Report Shows<\/a><\/p>\n

Experts said the cost of Trump\u2019s projects is unusual, far higher than that of any president since Franklin D. Roosevelt finished construction on the East Wing in 1942, now demolished by Trump.<\/p>\n

The White House says that it is using the funds in a way that is consistent with how Congress has appropriated them. However, just last week, a federal appeals court ordered the Trump administration to halt construction of the ballroom project. The judge ruled that the Trump administration lacked the authority to build the project as it had not been approved by Congress.<\/p>\n

Critics have noted that some of the projects seem frivolous and inflated in cost, especially at a time when Americans are already struggling under high prices for groceries, gas, housing, and other basic needs. Last week, for instance, Trump told contractors to demolish and redo their work on the helipad that they have been working on for weeks, apparently upset that it was built with a slant.<\/p>\n

The roughly $5 million project is apparently being funded by Lockheed Martin.<\/p>\n

The project documents indicate that the funding may not all be spent on the projects, the Post<\/em> reports. But, in the past year, the costs for these projects have kept rising. The ballroom is slated to cost double or even triple the White House\u2019s original estimate. The Lafayette Square project was originally projected to cost $3.3 million under the Biden administration, but Trump, who hired the company that is building his ballroom for the project, is spending over $17 million on it.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs most Americans are struggling to make ends meet, Trump is spending $900 million of YOUR taxpayer dollars for yet another personal vanity project. \u2028Talk about waste, fraud, and abuse,\u201d said Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Maryland) in a post online. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe price of Trump\u2019s ballroom keeps going up, and he has lied to Americans about how much taxpayers will pay for it,\u201d said Rep. Ro Khanna (D-California) on Wednesday. \u201cThis is money they\u2019re taking out of your healthcare, your jobs, and your education. I am calling on Republicans to do their jobs and block this wasteful spending.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Sailor Went Overboard USS Abraham Lincoln Amid Reports of Morale Crisis<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The sources of the funding for the various projects are shrouded in mystery.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1457,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1458","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nFountains, Ballroom, and a Helipad: Trump\u2019s White House Projects Cost Nearly $1B - Smart Moving Home<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1458\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Fountains, Ballroom, and a Helipad: Trump\u2019s White House Projects Cost Nearly $1B - Smart Moving Home\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The sources of the funding for the various projects are shrouded in mystery.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1458\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Smart Moving Home\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-14T04:37:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=1458#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=1458\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ec0d70042821fd684a174c8d0e8becfa\"},\"headline\":\"Fountains, Ballroom, and a Helipad: Trump\u2019s White House Projects Cost Nearly $1B\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-14T04:37:33+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=1458\"},\"wordCount\":699,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=1458#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/9257c4814962583064f6b147afedab17.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=1458#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=1458\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=1458\",\"name\":\"Fountains, Ballroom, and a Helipad: Trump\u2019s White House Projects Cost Nearly $1B - 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