White House ballroom cost rose to $600 million, report finds
Why it matters: The estimate shows taxpayers may cover more than half the project after Trump had called it “tax-payer free.”
A new White House ballroom project could cost as much as $600 million, with more than half of that total coming from public funds, The Washington Post reported, citing internal cost estimates prepared by contractor Clark Construction. That is well above Donald Trump’s earlier public figures of $200 million and later $400 million, which he described in March and May as being covered by private donors and his own money. The East Wing was demolished in 2025 to make way for the project. The report said a White House summary from March put private funding at $293 million, and that the administration had already approved more than a dozen taxpayer-funded payments to Clark Construction. The project is also tied up in a legal fight over whether above-ground work can continue.