特朗普的宴会厅正沦为政治烂摊子

Trump’s ballroom is becoming a political boondoggle

2026-05-05 1:40 PM ET / CNN Politics

Analysis by Aaron Blake

A crane being used to construct the new White House ballroom is seen next to the White House, on April 5, 2026.

Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP

For months, President Donald Trump has suggested that outgoing Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell might have committed a crime because the cost of renovating the Fed’s headquarters increased by about 30% on his watch.

But the cost of Trump’s own prized renovation — the White House ballroom — has increased even more, as a percentage of his original estimate.

And it’s looking more and more like Trump wasn’t telling the truth when he said the project would involve “no charge to the taxpayer whatsoever.”

The big news Monday was that the Republican-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee has requested $1 billion in funding that could go to security related to the $400 million ballroom.

The money, which is tucked into an expected party-line bill that is otherwise focused on immigration enforcement, is designated for “security adjustments and upgrades.” The security uses “include” work on the White House grounds “to support enhancements by the United States Secret Service relating to the East Wing Modernization Project.”

(The East Wing Modernization Project is the name for the replacement of the East Wing with Trump’s ballroom.)

That doesn’t mean all $1 billion would necessarily be used for ballroom-related purposes. But no other project is mentioned in that section of the bill.

And that’s really difficult to square with Trump’s previous rhetoric about the costs.

From the beginning of this now-nine-month process, Trump has emphasized it would involve no taxpayer money — only funds from donors and himself.

“I’m paying for it; the country’s not,” Trump said in September.

He added in October that it would be paid for “100% by me and some friends of mine.”

In December he said it would be “free of charge.”

In February he cited “no charge to the taxpayer whatsoever.”

And in March he said it would involve “zero taxpayer dollars.”

But the proposed security costs are now the second time in just a week that Trump’s allies in Congress have floated taxpayer funding for the massive project. After the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner last month, Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Katie Britt of Alabama and Eric Schmitt of Missouri pushed for taxpayers to foot the $400 million bill for building the ballroom itself, instead of donors and Trump. They suggested security concerns demanded it.

The White House hasn’t answered a question from CNN about whether it supports that proposal. But it signaled Tuesday that it supports the $1 billion security request.

“The White House applauds Congress’s latest proposal in its reconciliation package, which includes additional funding for security infrastructure upgrades in relation to the long overdue East Wing Modernization Project,” spokesman Davis Ingle said. “Congress has rightly recognized the need for these funds.”

Ingle said the events at the dinner demonstrated the need to “fully and completely harden the White House complex.”

Architect Shalom Baranes shows elevation drawings for a proposed White House ballroom to members of the National Capital Planning Commission on January 8, 2026.

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Meanwhile, the office of Sen. Chuck Grassley, who leads the Judiciary Committee, suggested the money for ballroom security wasn’t technically for the ballroom.

The bill does say the money can’t be used for “non-security elements” of the project. But security costs would seem to be a significant portion of the project itself. The $1 billion in security is greater than the $400 million price tag that the White House has pegged for the ballroom’s construction.

The former East Wing sat on top of an underground bunker. There’s a lot of secrecy surrounding the rebuilding of that bunker, though Trump has said it would be a “massive complex” underneath the ballroom, including a bomb shelter and other military-grade security.

And that $400 million price tag has also demonstrated how much the goalposts have moved on this project. In fact, that figure is already double what the White House initially pitched.

When the project was announced, it was estimated to cost $200 million.

Then, in September, Trump said it would be a little bigger and cost $250 million.

In October, it increased to $300 million.

Then Trump in December upped the price tag to $400 million.

The White House has also made other promises about the project that failed to pan out, including that the construction of the ballroom wouldn’t require demolishing the existing East Wing. Then the East Wing was suddenly and shockingly demolished in October.

“The scope and size was always subject to vary as the project developed,” a top White House aide explained to Reuters at the time.

It appears that wasn’t the only promise that was subject to change.

And the changing terms of the construction and its costs seem to be a growing problem for the White House and the GOP.

This was never a popular project, ever since the sudden demolition of the East Wing last fall.

And even after the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner and amid GOP arguments that the ballroom was needed for security reasons, Americans didn’t seem to change their minds; a Washington Post-ABC News poll showed the project remained unpopular by a 2-to-1 ratio, with the most passionate people opposing it 3-to-1.

That poll was also launched before the concept of taxpayer money crept in. That could depress support even further. And remember, Trump’s second term began with a heavy emphasis on supposedly saving taxpayers money, via the Department of Government Efficiency.

All of it reinforces how little political care has gone into something Trump obviously cares about a great deal. But as this congressional GOP has repeatedly demonstrated, it will push politically unpopular ideas if Trump demands it — apparently even if it means taxpayers foot the bill.