Trump admin just handed ballroom firm another secret $17 million no-bid contract

In a “highly unusual” move, the contractor behind the construction of President Donald Trump’s ballroom got a monetary boost from the National Park Service.The New York Times reports that Maryland-based Clark Construction not only nabbed a secret no-bid contract for a nearby job, but the National Park Service under Trump inflated the value of the contract several times over before awarding it to them. The additional work involves construction at the site of two ornamental fountains in Lafayette Park near the White House in Washington, DC.“The National Park Service wanted to repair two ornamental fountains in Lafayette Park, across Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House,” reports the Times. “The Biden administration in 2022 had estimated the work would cost $3.3 million. But Mr. Trump’s government agreed to pay Clark $11.9 million to do it, and later added tasks that increased the contract to $17.4 million, the documents show.”The Times further reports that the agency handed out the contract without considering offers from other firms, citing a rarely used “urgency” exception to normal open-bidding procedures usually meant for emergencies like war or natural disasters. Not ornamental fountains.By law, federal agencies are supposed to seek competing bids to find the vendor that provides the best deal. And unlike Trump’s $400 million ballroom project, it is taxpayers who will be paying Clark Construction for the fountain repairs.Trump’s ballroom attracted heavy criticism when construction equipment began tearing down a whole White House wing without alerting the public or going through many of the permitting or wailing processes applied to major renovation or demolition of the American public’s house.This month, Judge Richard Leon issued a clarification to a previous pause on construction after The National Trust for Historic Preservation asked the courts to stop the construction of Trump's 90,000-square-foot entertainment space. Judge Leon explained that his order blocked Trump and his cohorts from "taking any action in furtherance of the physical development of the proposed ballroom at the former site of the East Wing of the White House, including but not limited to any further demolition, site preparation work, landscape alteration, excavation, foundation work, or other construction or related work[.]" Additionally, the judge made clear that Trump was “the steward of the White House,” not “the owner!"