In late July, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt enthusiastically delivered the announcement “that the construction of the new White House ballroom will begin,” she told reporters, and that Donald Trump and other donors “have generously committed to donating the funds necessary to build this approximately $200 million structure.”
By October, the price tag had grown to $250 million. Soon after, it was $300 million. As of Tuesday night, it’s $400 million.
In other words, the cost has doubled over the course of five months. The president acknowledged the new figure at a White House event where he boasted, “I build under budget,” seemingly indifferent to the irony.
The revised total comes on the heels of the Republican bringing in a new architect as his ambitions grew. (The New York Times reported a few weeks ago: “What started as a 500-seat ballroom connected to the East Wing grew to 650 seats. Next, [the president] wanted a 999-seat ballroom, then room for 1,350.” This week, Trump said he wants the ballroom to be large enough to host an inauguration.)
It also comes after Trump said he and his team had raised $350 million for the wildly unnecessary vanity project and suggesting he’ll have to return to donors at least $50 million in additional cash.
This is of particular interest, not only because the White House has been reluctant to reveal the identities of some of the donors, but also because congressional Democrats, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, have opened an inquiry into whether any corporations have reached a quid pro quo arrangement with the administration with their financial support for the project.
As for the state of the endeavor, the National Trust for Historic Preservation filed a federal lawsuit in the hopes of blocking construction. The White House has pushed back, arguing, among other things, that delays might adversely affect national security. For now, a federal judge is allowing the project to move forward. Watch this space. This post updates our related earlier coverage.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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