Trump's White House ballroom project to cost taxpayers $307 million, report says

Donald Trump's ambitious project to construct a large ballroom at the White House is set to cost an estimated $600 million, with more than half of that sum potentially coming from taxpayer money, according to The Washington Post. This revelation directly challenges the former president's repeated claims that the project would be entirely funded by private donations.

The newspaper, citing internal documents from the contractor Clark Construction, indicates that a March estimate places the project's budget $200 million higher than Trump's publicly stated figure of $400 million. The documents suggest that approximately $307 million would be sourced from public funds, mainly allocated to security measures by the Secret Service and the White House Military Office, while private donors would contribute around $293 million.

Despite Trump's assertion in March that "there isn't 10 cents of taxpayer money" involved, the records show that the use of public funds was planned from the project's early stages. Officials reportedly sought to link the ballroom's construction to security needs to justify the financing under tax legislation.

The construction, which involves the demolition of the White House's East Wing, faced a temporary halt following a federal judge's ruling in March. The judge determined that Trump lacked the authority to proceed without specific congressional authorization. However, a federal appeals court has since temporarily suspended this order, and a decision on its validity is expected this month.