Republicans question Trump's 'privately funded' ballroom after report points to taxpayer burden

President Donald Trump’s colossal ballroom could be backed by hundreds of millions in taxpayer money, and after months of the president declaring that it was completely privately funded, lawmakers aren’t happy. 

A report from the Washington Post found that estimates for Trump’s 90,000-square-foot ballroom had skyrocketed to $600 million. Of that, about half would come from taxpayer-funded sources. 

Both Republicans and Democrats had already drawn a sharp line against dipping into taxpayer funds to pay for the project earlier this year when confronted with tacking on roughly $220 million in security enhancement funding for the ballroom through budget reconciliation. 

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"We have to have a serious conversation about the benefit to the taxpayers, right? If taxpayers aren't paying for it, it's a different bar, but if they're paying for it, we have to have a totally different conversation," Sen. John Curtis, R-Utah, said. "Is that how they want their money spent?"

The Post’s report, published Tuesday, reviewed documents between the White House and Clark Construction, a McLean, Va.-based company leading the construction of the ballroom, dating back over the last several months. 

A project summary from March 5 detailed that the ballroom, which Trump initially said would cost $100 million, would clock in at $600 million. 

Of that, $293 million was expected to come from private donors. The remaining $307 million was to come from the Secret Service, White House Military Office and Executive Residence. All three are funded by taxpayers.

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When asked the veracity of the reported figures, Clark Construction referred Fox News Digital to the White House and noted that all project information was confidential. 

White House spokesman Davis Ingle did not deny the figures in a statement and said, "The East Wing Modernization Project is inextricably tied to the security of the president, the White House grounds and the certain security infrastructure assets."

"The press release announcing the construction of the ballroom highlighted coordination with the White House Military Office and the United States Secret Service regarding design features and planning," Ingle said. "President Trump and generous American patriots are funding the ballroom to the tune of approximately $400 million, which will be a secure and appropriate venue for presidents for generations to come."

"The events over the weekend and the foiled attempted attack on the historic UFC Freedom 250 event at the White House proves exactly why the East Wing Modernization Project is severely needed for large-scale events, which include drone proof structures and drone ports among other critical security enhancements," he continued. 

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said he had not yet seen the report but noted that it would be a "different narrative than what we’ve heard."

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"I think there's a rationale, particularly when it comes to the security parts of this to keep that place safe we need to be responsible for," Thune said. "I just don't know enough about how it's being used — what it’s being used for."

Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., said he would prefer the ballroom to be paid for with private funding but was open to dipping into taxpayer dollars if the goal was to "make it safer, protect the president." 

When asked if he or other Republicans were contacted by the White House about the use of taxpayer money for the ballroom, Scott said, "No." 

"You’d have to, and you know you’d think it’d have to come up over here for funding, and I haven’t seen anything yet," Scott said.

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said lawmakers had seen this situation before with another project: the renovations to the Federal Reserve's headquarters going over budget that spurred, in part, a public feud with former Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. 

"I think when you move quickly, that's when mistakes are made," Tillis said. 

"It's not surprising that the estimates were up.
I have the same view about the Arch," he continued, referring to Trump's proposed United States Triumphal Arch. "You know, we think it's gonna be $25 million. I don't know what the number is right now, but my guess is it's gonna be a lot more than that." 

"And we ought to be very thoughtful, go through the process versus fitting things into arbitrary timeframes," he added. "Never works out."

Some Republicans shrugged off the report, largely because it was produced by the Washington Post.

Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, said, "You lost me at Washington Post." 

"I have no idea," Moreno said. "Do I trust the Washington Post? No, but it does — when you have a cat litter situation, and you don't want it to spill, newspapers serve a really good purpose."