The ballroom US President Donald Trump is building on White House grounds, portrayed as a privately funded gift to the nation, may actually cost taxpayers billions.
In November 2025, Trump told reporters at the Oval Office that the new ballroom would use “No government funds,” insisting that it would be funded by private individuals with “Not one penny being used from the federal government.”
The 90,000 square-foot space that the President insisted would cost the public nothing is now set to cost taxpayers $1 billion in security enhancements that are tied to the project.
Spokesperson Davis Ingle explained in a prepared statement that “Congress has rightly recognized the need for these funds, due in part to the recent assassination attempt on President Trump at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.”
When he first announced the plans for a ballroom last year, Trump insisted that it would improve state dinners and White House parties, at no cost to the public.
In January, Trump took to Truth Social, saying, “This is a GIFT (ZERO taxpayer funding!) to the United States of America, of 300 to 400 Million Dollars (depending on the scope and quality of interior finishes!), for a desperately needed space.”
The President raised millions of dollars in corporate contributions to pay for it and demolished the East Wing of the White House to create space, but as construction proceeded, the White House began discussing the ballroom’s security.
NBC: Ballroom to include medical facilities, bomb shelter
The administration's filings show that the project will include underground medical facilities and a bomb shelter, according to reports by NBC News.
The opposition wants to halt the project’s progress
Democratic senators say that the new funding proposal suggests that Americans were misled when Trump told them the ballroom would cost them nothing.
Senator Chris Coons said in an interview with NBC, “This is tragically another example of President Trump promising one thing and doing another - of saying he was going to do something great for the American people and instead demolishing the historic East Wing without any serious consultation or public input. And now we discover the total cost is going to be well more than $1 billion.”
However, Republican senators supported the project. “I guess as long as liberals insist on shooting presidents, it will take a lot of resources to protect presidents. I’m fine with it,” said Senator Kevin Cramer.
In June, a federal appeals court will hear arguments on a challenge to US District Judge Richard Leon’s order blocking Trump’s administration from continuing construction without congressional approval.
Until the decision in mid-June, construction will continue.