How much for Trump’s ballroom, reflecting pool and Jan. 6 fund?
President Trump’s dream of a massive ballroom to replace the East Wing of the White House has taken a hit. Senate Republicans are saying no.
Originally, we were told the ballroom would be built using private funds.
“It’s going to cost nothing,” Trump said on Feb. 25, 2025. “I will spend the whole thing myself, we will do a big beautiful room, we can use it at the White House.”
Later, we were told it would require $200 million of public dollars — no, wait, $300 million, then $400 million. The latest figure is $1 billion, with an emphasis on security in light of the assassination attempt at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner.
Of course, there is a need to support proper security for the president, especially in light of the three attempts to shoot him.
Maybe if he didn’t demolish the East Wing without asking permission — the White House belongs to all Americans, Trump just works and lives there — he would have more support for this expensive project.
It’s been a political gift to Democrats.
“Prices are rising, families are hurting, Americans know exactly who’s making it worse,” Democratic Leaded Chuck Schumer of New York said at a May 13 press conference. “What is the GOP response? A billion-dollar ballroom. Fancy, gold-plated. It’s outrageous.”
He’s not wrong.
Trump is famously imprecise about costs. He ordered repairs to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool and awarded a no-bid contract he said was for $1.8 million. Turns out, Atlantic Industrial Coatings, which secured the contract because it worked on pools at a Trump golf course, will be paid $13.1 million.
Maybe allowing other firms to bid on the job would have lowered the cost. But we will never know.
“A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you're talking real money,” is a famed quote about government spending. It’s usually attributed to Sen. Everett “Ev” McKinley Dirksen, an Illinois Republican.
Dirksen, a colorful figure who led Senate Republicans for 11 years, told reporters he really didn’t say that, but it sounded good and he saw no need to correct the record. He died in 1969, when a billion dollars was enough to raise eyebrows.
It’s still a lot of money. I hope Congress weighs this request carefully before approving any money to pay for a ballroom. Seems like there are a lot of other places to spend the money.
Now, about that $1.8 billion fund Trump is proposing for the thugs who stormed the nation’s Capitol, attacking police officers and trying to overturn a legitimate election … can we put a stop to that, too?
Sen. John Thune, who has been reluctant to criticize or oppose Trump, has expressed his doubts.
“Not a big fan. I’m not exactly sure how they would use it, but my understanding is that was just announced,” Thune told reporters Tuesday morning. “But yeah, I don’t see a purpose for that.”
If that makes a difference anymore, of course. It’s getting difficult to see a way out of this mess.
Fourth-generation South Dakotan Tom Lawrence has written for several newspapers and websites in South Dakota and other states for four decades. He has contributed to The New York Times, NPR, The London Telegraph, The Daily Beast and other media outlets. Do not republish without permission.
Photo: Trump discussing ballroom plans, public domain, wikimedia commons
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