WP: Trump administration plans $900 million White House overhaul

The Trump administration plans to spend at least $900 million on construction projects at the White House, with most of the cost expected to be covered by taxpayers, according to confidential contracts and planning documents reviewed by The Washington Post.

The documents put the total planned cost of work on the White House grounds at at least $927 million, including the construction of a gilded East Wing ballroom, upgrades to Lafayette Square, a new helipad and a visitor screening facility.

The administration has assembled much of the funding through transfers from other federal agencies and private donations, directing the money into a White House maintenance account that has traditionally received about $2.5 million a year from Congress.

Since President Donald Trump took office, $875 million has been directed to the account, public budget records show. Of that, $500 million came through transfers from the U.S. Secret Service and White House Military Office, while $305 million came from private donations. Another $70 million was directed to the account without an identified source, according to documents reviewed by the Post.

The administration has not disclosed the total cost of its planned White House construction or provided details on the original purposes of most of the money transferred into the account.

The White House said the spending was being carried out in a “manner consistent with” Congress’s original intent.

“President Trump continues to implement long-overdue and necessary renovations to beautify the People’s House as we celebrate our great Nation’s 250th anniversary of independence,” White House spokesman Davis Ingle said. “Thanks to the Builder-in-Chief, the White House will be properly glorified and remain in excellent condition for generations to come.”

The administration has said the ballroom itself would be financed with $400 million in private donations. It has also defended the involvement of the Secret Service and White House Military Office, saying security infrastructure is part of the project.

“Recent events such as the foiled attack on the historic UFC Freedom 250 event at the White House proves exactly why the East Wing Modernization Project is severely needed for large scale events, which include drone proof structures and drone ports among other critical security enhancements,” Ingle said.

The funding arrangements have drawn scrutiny because Congress controls federal spending. The White House budget office can transfer funds between accounts when the spending is consistent with the original appropriation, but experts said the scale of the transfers was unusual.

“If the executive can do anything they want with appropriated funds, then the executive can do anything they want, period,” said Joe Carlile, a former associate director of the Office of Management and Budget during the Biden administration.

The issue has also become the subject of a legal battle. A federal appeals court ruled last week that the administration needed congressional approval to continue construction of the East Wing ballroom. Trump has vowed to appeal, setting up a potential Supreme Court case over the limits of presidential authority to alter the White House.

“Congress has exclusive authority to regulate the construction and demolition of White House structures,” Judges Patricia A. Millett and Bradley N. Garcia wrote.

The ruling followed a lawsuit alleging that the administration had circumvented Congress when it demolished the East Wing in December. Government lawyers argued that the president was authorised to spend funds on “the care, maintenance, repair, alteration, refurnishing, improvement” of the executive mansion.

The appeals court rejected that argument.

“Whether or not a massive ballroom should be constructed is for Congress to decide and is not a matter for Executive self-help,” the judges wrote.

The planned overhaul would be the largest transformation of the White House in more than 80 years, according to historians cited by the Post.

By Aghakazim Guliyev