A gift to the United States: Donald Trump presents the construction of his highly secure ballroom at the White House

Donald Trump shows off the new ballroom of the White House

• Donald Trump presented to the press, on Tuesday, May 19, the progress of the work on his ballroom at the White House.
• A real bunker is being built in the East wing of the presidential building to better protect the president and his guests.
• While he promised that the project would not be “paid by the taxpayer,” his ambitions have led him to change his plans, to the detriment of Americans.

The new obsession of Donald Trump is making America tremble. On Tuesday, May 19, the 45th American President showed journalists around the work on the future ballroom at the White House, located in the eastern wing of the building. “A gift to the United States of America,” he praised amid the colossal construction, adding that this reception room will be “one of the most beautiful buildings ever built in the country.”

This ballroom, mentioned by the Oval Office tenant an average of once every three days since the beginning of the year 2026, was noted by the Washington Post. In July of 2025, the real estate mogul presented the construction site of the new 8,300 m² building, which can accommodate 1,000 people, up from 200 previously. To decorate this gargantuan project: marble and gilding.

“All this is my money and that of my donors”

“President Trump, and other patriotic donors, have generously committed to providing the funds necessary to build this $200 million structure,” or 172 million euros, said the construction announcement at its launch.

Three months later, in October 2025, Donald Trump bulldozed the eastern wing of the presidential building. Ten months after the project presentation, the cost of the work has continued to rise, reaching $400 million, or 345 million euros. Although he has repeatedly stated that the project would not cost American taxpayers a penny, some Republican initiatives partially contradict this promise.

“This is all my money and that of my donors”

The plans suddenly changed on April 25th, when Cole Allen, a 31-year-old professor, fired shots outside the ballroom of the Washington Hilton hotel, where the traditional White House Correspondents’ Dinner was taking place. The ballroom suddenly became a security issue. After the attack on the press gala, the manifesto that the suspect allegedly sent to his family minutes before the incident was made public by the New York Post. “I entered with several weapons and not a single person thought I could be a threat,” claimed the assailant.

After the shooting, the American president denounced on his Truth Social network: “This incident would never have happened if the reception room, classified ‘top secret’ on a military level, currently under construction at the White House, had already existed.” Thus, on May 19th, he presented the work on a ballroom that will be much more than a simple reception venue. He praised the plans for a true fortress that will safely accommodate the president and his future guests.

“The entire roof will be designed for the military, it is higher than practically everything else in the building and offers a 360-degree view of all of Washington,” Donald Trump told the press. “The White House roof will have a massive drone capacity. Not only will it be drone-proof, but if one of them hits it, it bounces off with no impact. It will also be designed as a drone port, so the roof of the building protects all of Washington,” concluded the head of state, before assuring, “All this is my money and that of my donors.”

The Senate blocks a massive federal budget

However, the generous donors and the president’s bank account no longer seem to be sufficient sources of funding for this considerable project. Indeed, on April 27th, two days after the press gala, a group of Republican senators, led by Lindsey Graham, a senator from South Carolina, proposed an envelope of $400 million for the construction of the new ballroom. An envelope whose source, according to the senator, would come from customs duties – which were censored by the Supreme Court last February – and from national park revenues.

By mid-May, Republicans introduced a bill to demand one billion dollars from elected officials for the Secret Service, the agency responsible for protecting political figures in the United States. This envelope is also expected to contribute to security infrastructure related to the ballroom project: thick bulletproof glass, drones, chemical detection systems, a visitor security post, new technologies to detect biological weapons, reinforcement against air incursions, and a reinforced system dedicated to securing major events at risk. This bill has prompted opposition to take action.

The leader of the Democrats in the US Senate, Chuck Schumer, denounced on Monday, May 18, the Republicans’ desire to use one billion dollars in public funds for the construction of the ballroom at the White House. “Americans do not need a ballroom. They need relief, they want Congress and their president to address the cost-of-living crisis hitting families across the country,” the Democratic senator said in his letter. The Democrats thus withdrew the bill presented by Republicans in the Senate on Saturday, May 16, as reported by the Washington Post following the vote. The budget is therefore blocked due to “the need for coordination between several government agencies” and, consequently, “the oversight of several commissions.”

An irrational obsession

The Trump administration continues to pressure Congress to expedite work on this fortified ballroom that is “more indispensable than ever.” But in December 2025, two months after work began, the National Trust for Historic Preservation filed a complaint, arguing that the rushed construction projects did not adhere to the standard consultation procedures, particularly in Congress. However, since the foiled attack at the Washington Hilton hotel, the Department of Justice has sent a letter of intimidation to the organization responsible for preserving American heritage, demanding the association withdraw its “frivolous complaint” that is blocking the work and, as a result, would “seriously endanger the lives of the president, his family, and his staff.”

While the inauguration of this spectacular ballroom was announced for September 2028, just weeks before the next American presidential election, the inflation rate over the past year is at 3.8% across the Atlantic, and gas prices have risen by 50% since the start of the war in Iran, triggered at the end of February. “Everything is fine,” insisted Donald Trump on Wednesday, May 19, claiming that the United States had “reached record highs in the stock market.” As the cost-of-living issue in the US remains at the heart of debates, and the Republican billionaire campaigned on its improvement before being elected, it seems he is straying further from that.