Donald Trump hopes to stamp his legacy on America’s iconic White House with a $400million (£298million) ballroom complete with garish and bizarre details that have stumped lawmakers.
The US President told reporters this week there “will never be another building like this built” after giving a guided tour of the building site where the new ballroom will be erected. It is part of a massive facelift Trump is giving the White House that replaces the much smaller original building which was torn down last autumn.
Trump went on to make bizarre boasts about plans for the building including a “dead flat” roof made of “very strong steel.” He claimed the material would be a great choice as “if a drone hits it, it bounces off, it won’t have any impact.”
View 3 ImagesTrump bragged about apparent features of the ballroom (Image: Samuel Corum – Pool via CNP/Shutterstock)
The odd claims continued, with Trump claiming the building is “also meant as a drone port, so it protects all of Washington, the roof of the building.” Members of the military would also “stay on it” to secure Washington DC.
Current plans have the building going six stories underground and will act as a “shield” for a military hospital, research facilities, offices for Melania in addition to the 1,000 capacity ballroom. But Trump will only have a few months to enjoy his pet project as it will not be ready until September 2028 – just six months before he is due to permanently leave office.
View 3 ImagesDonald Trump claimed there “will never be another building like this built” (Image: AFP via Getty Images)
The President said private donors would cover the estimated £297.7 million building costs but requested $1billion (£744million) in taxpayer funding for security costs. Proposed security costs would amount to roughly one sixth of America’s citizenship and immigration services annual budget.
But Trump justified the expenditure, claiming the new ballroom would be a “gift to the US.” But a majority of Americans appear unhappy with the supposed gift. An April Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll that quizzed 1,292 US adults found 56 per cent opposed the project.
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In comparison 28 per cent were in support and 16 per cent were not sure, or skipped the question. Trump also argues it would have increased security and referenced the White House Correspondents Dinner shooting last month.
He said: “If we had the White House Correspondents’ Dinner here, would have been no problem.” No such dinner has ever been hosted inside the White House since the institution began in 1921, with many having been held at the Washington Hilton.
The ballroom project is one of numerous undertakings by Trump to stamp his brand on the US capital ahead of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Other pet projects involve changing the colour at the bottom of the reflecting pool and a Paris-inspired “Arc de Trump.”