Trump Again Claims Taxpayers Aren't On The Hook For Ballroom—But Contractor Says Otherwise

BreakingBusinessTrump Again Claims Taxpayers Aren't On The Hook For Ballroom—But Contractor Says OtherwiseByMary Whitfill Roeloffs,Forbes Staff. Mary Roeloffs is a Forbes breaking news reporter covering pop culture.Follow AuthorAug 22, 2026, 11:33am EDTToplinePresident Donald Trump on Saturday hailed his ongoing White House ballroom project—after the Supreme Court temporarily allowed construction to continue on Friday—as ahead of schedule, under budget and completely privately funded despite an estimate from the project's contractor that claimed taxpayers are footing more than half of the $600 million bill.Construction continues at the White House on Aug. 10, 2026.Getty ImagesKey FactsTrump on Friday said he was "grateful" for the Supreme Court's decision, which temporarily blocked a court order against construction, and on Saturday morning bragged about the progress on the 90,000-square-foot White House addition. He said "tremendous work has been done" and promised the project, which he has repeatedly said will cost $400 million, “will be paid for with ZERO Dollars of Taxpayer Money,” adding “ Great American Patriots and Companies are footing the entire bill,” he said. The contractor overseeing the work, however, told the White House earlier this year the construction will cost $600 million and more than half of it will come from taxpayers, the Washington Post reported. The Post's reporting claimed the White House knew "the work was projected to rely heavily on taxpayer dollars from the moment it was announced," including more than a dozen already-approved payments to Clark Construction totaling tens of millions of dollars in public funds. if (!window.cnxel) { window.cnxel = {}; window.cnxel.cmd = []; var iframe = document.createElement('iframe'); iframe.style.display = 'none'; iframe.onload = function() { var iframeDoc = iframe.contentWindow.document; var script = iframeDoc.createElement('script'); script.src = '//...