Trump critics react to the GOP's late-night White House ballroom proposal

Senate Republicans unveiled a $72 billion spending package that includes $1 billion for President Donald Trump's White House ballroom project, contradicting Trump's repeated claims that the project would be privately funded. The reconciliation package, unveiled by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), also allocates $38.2 billion for ICE and $26 billion for Customs and Border Protection. Critics questioned the reversal, with conservative strategist Reed Galen asking on X, "What happened to the ballroom being paid for by private funds?" Representative Yassamin Ansari (D-AZ) called it another example of Trump promising others would pay while Americans foot the bill, on a post on X. Trump previously cited the White House Correspondents' Dinner shooting as a reason to fast-track the project. Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) noted the silver lining: lawmakers now have an opportunity to vote directly on the ballroom funding. The spending package will advance using reconciliation, requiring only a simple Senate majority. Watch the video below. Your browser does not support the video tag.