Wednesday, June 17, 2026

Trump’s East Wing ballroom: How taxpayers are footing the invoice


This story appeared in The Logoff, a day by day e-newsletter that helps you keep knowledgeable concerning the Trump administration with out letting political information take over your life. Subscribe right here.

Welcome to The Logoff: You’re paying for Donald Trump’s ballroom. And it’s getting much more costly.

What’s occurring? That is removed from the primary time The Logoff has written concerning the ballroom Trump is presently constructing on the positioning of the demolished East Wing of the White Home — however bear with me.

On Tuesday, the Washington Put up reported new particulars concerning the construction’s price and funding, together with an estimated price ticket of $600 million. Of that, greater than half will reportedly be taxpayer {dollars} — not, as Trump has beforehand promised, cash raised completely from personal donors.

The brand new price ticket can be (one other) vital leap in price. When Trump first introduced plans for a ballroom, he stated it will price $200 million — then $300 million, then $400 million. Now, it’s tripled in worth.

What’s the context? Trump has already tried as soon as earlier than to get taxpayers to fund the ballroom: In Could, proposed textual content of a Senate immigration funding invoice contained $1 billion tucked away for an “East Wing Modernization Undertaking” — the ballroom. That cash was later stripped from the invoice, nonetheless.

Why is the ballroom so costly? Primarily based on Trump’s remarks, the ballroom’s deliberate safety footprint (and its total measurement) has grown considerably over time. It is going to now, based on Trump, embody a “large” subterranean army advanced and a hospital, in addition to “the best drone empire that you simply’ve ever seen.”

And with that, it’s time to sign off…

I appreciated this reminder from my colleague Jonquilyn Hill that writing issues by hand is nice for our brains and we should always take the time to do it extra typically. (I promised my editor I gained’t begin submitting this article in longhand, although.)

Thanks for studying, have an awesome night, and we’ll see you again right here tomorrow!

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