Trump met with huge blow to White House ballroom plans after $1 billion proposal
US President Donald Trump has reportedly suffered a blow to his billion dollar ballroom plans.
It's reported that although the construction of the ballroom is being funded by private donations, money is being sought for security upgrades to the ballroom, which has been criticised by Democrats.
"Republicans tried to make taxpayers foot the bill for Trump's billion-dollar ballroom," Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer has said.
“Senate Democrats fought back – and blew up their first attempt.”
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Following the developments, an advisory ruling from the Senate’s parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough has said that funding for the ballroom renovation does not comply with budget rules.
Senator Jeff Merkley stated that the guidance explains that 'a project as complex and large in scale as Trump’s proposed ballroom necessarily involves the coordination of many government agencies which span the jurisdiction of many Senate committees'.
A statement from Merkley's office reads, as per The Hill: “The Parliamentarian’s advice is based on whether a provision is appropriate for reconciliation and conforms to the limitations of the Byrd Rule; it is not a judgement on the relative merits of a particular policy."
Trump's plan to build a ballroom costing approximately $400 million has long been controversial, especially after photos revealed the White House's historic East Wing being ripped down in order to make space.
According to ABC News, officials in the administration had been referring to the project as the 'Donald J Trump Ballroom' although the White House has since pushed back on the rumour, with a spokesperson telling Fox News that an announcement on the ballroom's name would 'come directly from President Trump himself, and not through anonymous and unnamed sources'.
According to PBS Newshour, the security costs would be used for bulletproof glass, drone detection, systems to detect chemical threats and other emerging security issues through state of the art technology.
Trump spoke about the ballroom following his trip to China this week.
“China has a Ballroom, and so should the U.S.A.!” He wrote on Truth Social.
"It’s under construction, ahead of schedule, and will be the finest facility of its kind anywhere in the U.S.A. Thank you for all the support I have been given in getting this project going. Scheduled opening will be around September of 2028. The man I am walking with is President Xi, of China, one of the World’s Great Leaders!"
Topics: Donald Trump, US News, Money, Politics
Lucy Devine