Trump Quietly Moves Millions in Federal Funds to White House Ballroom

Source: The New Republic · Bias: Left

Summary

After being denied funds for his ballroom by Congress, President Trump has secretly taken them from somewhere else.Last week, the White House Office of Management and Budget moved $352 million earmarked for Secret Service resources toward “White House Security Measures,” NOTUS reports. Those Secret Service funds had originally been set up by Trump’s tax law, the “Big Beautiful Bill,” passed last year.A source familiar with the Secret Service budget told The Washington Post the funds will be used to build a new White House East Wing, which includes the ballroom.Democrats and Republicans in Congress also warned the funds are being covertly diverted to Trump’s ballroom project.“I don’t know whether it’s the ballroom, but it sounds like the ballroom,” Democratic Senator Brian Schatz said to NOTUS.“That’s a big problem,” Republican Senator Thom Tillis said. “That sounds like a different way to fund the East Wing project. If the East Wing needs support, we should be transparent about if that is in fact what happened. It seems strangely similar to the ask of Congress, but my God, we just had people from [the] Secret Service coming here saying they needed more money, how they needed more funding, and now we may be shifting it away from a Secret Service priority. I just need details. On its face it doesn’t sound right.”Democratic Senator Chris Coons is also suspicious.“I think there’s been more and more credible coverage that President Trump was just flat-out lying when he said the taxpayers will not pay a dime for his ballroom,” Coons said. “I think he is now trying to find ways to funnel public money into it.”Trump’s ballroom is expected to cost $600 million, and half of that cost will come from taxpayers, according to a Washington Post report from earlier this week. Raiding the Secret Service’s money pot would cover that and more. This wouldn’t be the first time Trump has dipped his hand into funds appropriated by his own budget bill. His administration has previously used those funds to buy a luxury jet for former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and for “border security executive travel.”When NOTUS asked an OMB official about the transfer of funds Wednesday, that official brought up the ballroom unprompted.“The ballroom will be built with private donations the President has secured,” the official said in a statement to NOTUS. “The administration and the President have been very clear about the need for additional security at the White House complex and the role the Secret Service, in addition to other White House components, will play in supporting the necessary security elements associated with the East Wing Modernization project.”This story has been updated.

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Trump Quietly Moves Millions in Federal Funds to White House Ballroom
The New Republic

Trump Quietly Moves Millions in Federal Funds to White House Ballroom

Left

After being denied funds for his ballroom by Congress, President Trump has secretly taken them from somewhere else.Last week, the White House Office of Management and Budget moved $352 million earmarked for Secret Service resources toward “White House Security Measures,” NOTUS reports. Those Secret Service funds had originally been set up by Trump’s tax law, the “Big Beautiful Bill,” passed last year.A source familiar with the Secret Service budget told The Washington Post the funds will be used to build a new White House East Wing, which includes the ballroom.Democrats and Republicans in Congress also warned the funds are being covertly diverted to Trump’s ballroom project.“I don’t know whether it’s the ballroom, but it sounds like the ballroom,” Democratic Senator Brian Schatz said to NOTUS.“That’s a big problem,” Republican Senator Thom Tillis said. “That sounds like a different way to fund the East Wing project. If the East Wing needs support, we should be transparent about if that is in fact what happened. It seems strangely similar to the ask of Congress, but my God, we just had people from [the] Secret Service coming here saying they needed more money, how they needed more funding, and now we may be shifting it away from a Secret Service priority. I just need details. On its face it doesn’t sound right.”Democratic Senator Chris Coons is also suspicious.“I think there’s been more and more credible coverage that President Trump was just flat-out lying when he said the taxpayers will not pay a dime for his ballroom,” Coons said. “I think he is now trying to find ways to funnel public money into it.”Trump’s ballroom is expected to cost $600 million, and half of that cost will come from taxpayers, according to a Washington Post report from earlier this week. Raiding the Secret Service’s money pot would cover that and more. This wouldn’t be the first time Trump has dipped his hand into funds appropriated by his own budget bill. His administration has previously used those funds to buy a luxury jet for former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and for “border security executive travel.”When NOTUS asked an OMB official about the transfer of funds Wednesday, that official brought up the ballroom unprompted.“The ballroom will be built with private donations the President has secured,” the official said in a statement to NOTUS. “The administration and the President have been very clear about the need for additional security at the White House complex and the role the Secret Service, in addition to other White House components, will play in supporting the necessary security elements associated with the East Wing Modernization project.”This story has been updated.

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