Despite his repeated promises White House The ballroom project will be funded entirely by private donations, president donald trumpThe Trump administration has quietly redirected $352 million in federal funds originally set aside for the Secret Service to his controversial construction projects.
What does the record show
according to The Guardianthe funds come from the One Great Beauty Act, Trump’s signature tax bill that passed last summer with only Republican votes. The law stipulates that the money can only be used for Secret Service personnel, training facilities, technology and related expenses, not construction.
An Office of Management and Budget (OMB) database shows that about $340.8 million was deposited into the “Procurement, Construction and Improvement” account on June 12, with another $10.75 million approved the same day under the “Operations and Support” account, The Guardian reported.
This comes after Congress explicitly refused to provide $1 billion in funding for the East Wing Modernization Project, the Trump administration’s official name for a project. 90,000 sq. ft. ballroom Built on the site of the demolished East Wing of the White House.
according to washington postPlans call for $155 million from Secret Service funds, $149 million from the White House Military Office and $3 million from the Executive Mansion, all of which are public funds, along with private donations, according to internal records from Clark Construction, which is leading the project. The total cost could reach $600 million.
Also read: Who funds the Obama Presidential Center? Activists mark unpaid dues to contractors during opening
What Trump said and the numbers say
As costs surge, Trump’s own rhetoric has also shifted significantly. When construction of the ballroom, expected to cost $200 million, was announced in July 2025, Trump described it as a “personal item.”
By the end of March, the estimate had doubled to $400 million, with Trump insisting: “This is at no taxpayer cost. We don’t have taxpayers paying 10 cents.”
According to the Washington Post, the transfer of Secret Service funds is equivalent to more than 10% of the agency’s annual budget in recent years, and Trump has repeatedly claimed that the project will cost $400 million and be funded entirely by private donors. March budget estimates obtained by The Washington Post show that $155 million of the program is expected to come from the Secret Service alone, with most of the remaining public funding expected to come from the White House Military Office.
Private fundraisers have come under their own scrutiny. Regulators including the Campaign Legal Center have warned that donations from major companies such as Meta, Coinbase and Lockheed Martin have significant interests in front of the US federal government and pose significant corruption risks, The Guardian reported.
Senior lawmakers have sounded the alarm. Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina told Notus: “This is a big issue. It sounds like a different way to fund the East Wing project. On the face of it, it doesn’t sound right.” Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, told the same outlet: “I don’t know if it’s a ballroom, but it sounds like a ballroom.”
