WASHINGTON, May 6 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump defended the rising cost estimates for his planned ballroom on Wednesday, saying the cost of the massive building on the White House complex would still be less than $400 million.
“The only reason the cost has changed is because, after deep rooted studies, it is approximately twice the size, and a far higher quality, than the original proposal, which would not have been adequate to handle the necessary events, meetings, and even future Inaugurations,” Trump said in a Truth Social post.
“The original price was 200 Million Dollars, the double sized, highest quality completed project will be something less than 400 Million Dollars.”
Trump previously had said that private donations would pay for the cost of the ballroom project.
His comments on Wednesday followed a proposal by U.S. Senate Republicans to give $1 billion in taxpayer funding to the Secret Service this year for security upgrades, including the White House ballroom.
The funding package text does not say how much of the new Secret Service funds provided by taxpayers will pay for the ballroom.
Republican lawmakers pushed for legislation to fund and expedite construction of a ballroom days after an alleged gunman was apprehended at last month’s White House Correspondents’ dinner, where Trump was set to speak.
Democratic Senator Dick Durbin criticized the move as providing funds for a Trump “vanity project” while Americans are struggling to make ends meet.
(Reporting by Susan Heavey and Doina Chiacu; Editing by Mark Porter)
