Records reveal $600M estimate for Trump's ballroom project, with half from taxpayers

Source: Washington Post

WP Exclusive
Records reveal $600M estimate for Trump's ballroom project, with half from taxpayers

An internal cost estimate in March by the project's contractor ran $200 million more than Trump has said publicly and counters his claims that no taxpayer money will be spent.

June 16, 2026 at 6:00 a.m. EDT 39 minutes ago
9 min


A view of the work last month to construct a ballroom where the East Wing of the White House once stood. (Alex Brandon/AP)

By Sarah Blaskey and Jonathan O'Connell

Five months after the demolition of the White House's East Wing, President Donald Trump claimed that the project to construct a massive ballroom and a bunker in its place would cost up to $400 million and that private donors would pay for all of it. ... "This is taxpayer-free. We have no taxpayer putting up 10 cents," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on March 31, describing the project as including bomb shelters and major medical facilities.

But a detailed project summary prepared for the White House by the contractor more than three weeks before Trump's comments estimated the total construction cost at $600 million -- with more than half coming from taxpayers, according to a copy of the contractor estimate obtained by The Washington Post. {snip} Multiple project summaries provided to the White House by Clark Construction show that internal cost estimates have been significantly higher than administration officials have acknowledged in public comments or court filings. They also show that the work was projected to rely heavily on taxpayer dollars from the moment it was announced. ... The White House did not answer questions about the internal cost estimates or taxpayer funding. {snip} A spokesperson for McLean, Virginia-based Clark Construction said all project details are confidential and referred questions to the White House.

{snip}

On Oct. 22, in the same week Clark began demolishing the East Wing, Trump told reporters that the price had risen to $300 million. He said that the military was involved but that the project would be paid for "100 percent by me and some friends of mine."


Records reviewed by The Washington Post show planners have estimated that more than $300 million of the ballroom construction costs would come from taxpayers through the Secret Service, the White House Military Office and the Executive Residence. (Kylie Cooper/Reuters)

However, a project summary dated Oct. 20, the day the demolition began, shows that Clark expected the full project to cost $478 million. Taxpayers were expected to fund nearly half of that, the documents show. {snip} By March, Clark had informed the White House that the projected cost had increased to $600 million. A project summary dated March 5 shows that nearly half of that, $293 million, was expected to come from “private sources.” The estimate said an additional $155 million would come from the Secret Service, $149 million from the White House Military Office and $3 million from the Executive Residence, all sources funded by taxpayers. ... That month, the administration acknowledged that the project included underground security features, including what Trump has described as a hospital.

{snip}

By Sarah Blaskey
Sarah Blaskey is an investigative reporter on The Washington Post's rapid-response investigations team.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/sarah-blaskey/

By Jonathan O'Connell
Jonathan O'Connell is a reporter focused on investigations. He has covered economic development, commercial real estate and President Donald Trump's business. He joined The Post in 2010.follow on X@jocwapo
https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/jonathan-oconnell/

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2026/06/16/records-reveal-600m-estimate-trumps-ballroom-project-with-half-taxpayers/