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Who's paying for Trump's White House ballroom? | DW News
Posted
May 8, 2026
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May 8, 2026
12,610
257
125
3.03%
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10:23Now PlayingDonald Trump once promised that his planned White House ballroom would cost taxpayers nothing. But now, Republican senators are seeking up to 1 billion dollars linked to the project — triggering a fierce political backlash.
The White House expansion plan was initially presented as a privately funded “gift” financed by Trump and wealthy donors. But soaring construction estimates, security requirements and reports of a massive underground bunker complex have raised new questions about who will really pay.
In this DW News interview, political commentator and attorney Ethan Bearman discusses:
- Why costs have reportedly doubled from 200 million to 400 million dollars
- The billion-dollar funding request now moving through Congress
- Claims that taxpayer money would only fund “security upgrades”
- Whether Americans actually care about the controversy
- Who the mysterious private donors might be
- The legal challenges surrounding the project
- Whether presidential immunity makes the issue politically consequence-free
Trump has defended the ballroom as a necessary modernization of the White House. Critics call it an extravagant vanity project at a time when the US national debt is nearing 38 trillion dollars.
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#dwcurrentaffairs #whitehouse #trumpballroom
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