How Trump's White House ballroom plan has doubled in size and cost over a year

How Trump's White House ballroom plan has doubled in size and cost over a year9 minutes agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleJake Horton & Lucy GilderBBC Verify in Washington DCGetty ImagesIn the year since US President Donald Trump announced plans to build a new ballroom at the White House, the proposals have grown to include a rooftop "drone port", an underground hospital and "top secret" military facilities - and the estimated price has doubled to $400m (£300m).Despite promises from Trump that the project wouldn't cost US taxpayers any money, Republicans have requested additional funds from Congress for security around the complex - at a time when Americans are struggling with rising living costs linked to the Iran war.The president indicated from the outset that the new ballroom is needed to "accommodate people for grand parties, State Visits", and more recently said it is "vital for National Security".BBC Verify has examined how the biggest change to the White House in decades has transformed over the past year.How did we get here?On 6 June last year, Trump announced on his social media platform Truth Social that he had inspected the site where a new ballroom would be built, promising it would "go up quickly" and would be "very much in keeping with the magnificent White House itself"."These are the 'fun' projects I do while thinking about the World Economy, the United States, China, Russia, and lots of other Countries, places, and events," he added.The following month his administration revealed plans for a new "White House State Ballroom" to be built where the "small, heavily changed, and reconstructed East Wing currently sits", adding that its "theme and architectural heritage will be almost identical" to the historic main building.The White HouseThe proposal included mock-up images of what the ballroom could look likeThe statement said...