Trump pulls back curtain on White House ballroom’s fortress-like defenses above and deep below

[livingston]

Trump pulls back curtain on White House ballroom’s fortress-like defenses above and deep below​

Trump says the building includes military hospital, research facilities and missile defense infrastructure​

President Donald Trump gave reporters a fresh look Tuesday at construction of the new White House ballroom, touting it as a hardened security structure that runs six stories into the ground.
Trump said the future White House ballroom not just as an event venue, but as a hardened security structure designed to support presidential operations and large gatherings amid heightened concerns following a shooting tied to the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner.


He said the building would include a military hospital research facilities, various meeting rooms and security infrastructure tied to drone and missile defense.
The roof is "dead flat" with "absolutely nothing but strength on it," said Trump as he went on to describe the roof as a "drone port" with "unlimited numbers of drones" and military positioning capacity.
"I hate to use the word snipers, but we have great sniper capacities built for our snipers. Not the enemy snipers, our snipers. And because of the height, we get a very clear view of everything all over Washington," said Trump.

Trump pulls back curtain on White House ballroom’s fortress-like defenses above and deep below

President Trump unveils White House ballroom construction, touting missile defense, drone capacity and security features at the six-story-deep site.

www.foxnews.com

 

[Beerman]

Cost overrun has blossomed up by $400 million over the original $200. Total cost over $600,000,000 and WeTheTaxpayers are most likely going to be blessed with paying half. Promises kept. Remember them. All none of them.

 

[livingston]

Cost overrun has blossomed up by $400 million over the original $200. Total cost over $600,000,000 and WeTheTaxpayers are most likely going to be blessed with paying half. Promises kept. Remember them. All none of them.

the renovation of Washington, D.C.'s central bank headquarters
Initial Budget: Started at roughly $921 million to $1.3 billion (depending on initial scope phases set around 2020)
Current Cost Estimate: Has ballooned to $2.4 billion to $2.5 billion. [1, 2]

Over the course of renovations, construction costs have gone from an initially budgeted $921m in February 2020 to $2.018bn by December 2024. Construction was supposed to be completed in mid-2024 but is not slated to go until December 2027.
Trump latched on to the Fed’s ongoing renovations as an attack point against Powell in June 2025, suggesting that it amounted to corruption. He suggested that renovations included elaborate features including a VIP dining room and a garden terrace.

Federal Reserve watchdog finds no criminal violations for building renovation cost overruns

Trump criticized $2.4bn rehab amid attempts to pressure then Fed chair Jerome Powell into lowering interest rates

www.theguardian.com

Haven't heard much complaining about this by liberals

I read somewhere that after the assassination attempt on Trump at the ballroom ... They added
more security features that was not included in the original plans ... Many projects done today seem to have cost overruns . Just the nature of the beast.

 

[tirwin1]

I don't like the cost overruns but anyone who bitches about the ballroom but didn't say anything about the federal reserve cost overrun is nothing but a partisan hypocrite.

 

[Bigfoot]

TDS is real. It's a strange phenomenon.

 

[Beerman]

Oh, well then, if massive cost overruns are normal then please, take $300 million in taxpayer funds to build your party porch. It’s normal. It happens.


No taxpayer money. No one has seen Donald J Trump on the donor list so far. Maybe he’s just waiting until it’s finished so he can superglue some cheap yellow painted crap from Hobby Lobby all over the walls. But he won’t get inside, because he’ll be out of office before it’s completed. Overruns, remember. Delays. It’s all normal. For a “businessman” who touts himself as a real estate developer, he sure bungles things up a lot. At least food and energy is dirt cheap. America got clowned by a NYC Democrat.

The Fed construction scandal should have had indictments and convictions. That was pure criminal activity loaded with corruption and grift. It snuck by and the $ was gone before it became news, which is partly why no one noticed. Another reason why it didn’t ruffle many feathers is because the Fed is (supposed to be) politically neutral, so most mouthbreathers did not know who to point at.

 

[spat]

Oh, well then, if massive cost overruns are normal then please, take $300 million in taxpayer funds to build your party porch. It’s normal. It happens.


No taxpayer money. No one has seen Donald J Trump on the donor list so far. Maybe he’s just waiting until it’s finished so he can superglue some cheap yellow painted crap from Hobby Lobby all over the walls. But he won’t get inside, because he’ll be out of office before it’s completed. Overruns, remember. Delays. It’s all normal. For a “businessman” who touts himself as a real estate developer, he sure bungles things up a lot. At least food and energy is dirt cheap. America got clowned by a NYC Democrat.

The Fed construction scandal should have had indictments and convictions. That was pure criminal activity loaded with corruption and grift. It snuck by and the $ was gone before it became news, which is partly why no one noticed. Another reason why it didn’t ruffle many feathers is because the Fed is (supposed to be) politically neutral, so most mouthbreathers did not know who to point at.

It's very telling that you're all fired up about *this* project, but silent on literally every other federal construction project in DC for the last 5 decades.

It's almost like it's not about the money at all.

 

[Beerman]

It's very telling that you're all fired up about *this* project, but silent on literally every other federal construction project in DC for the last 5 decades.

It's almost like it's not about the money at all.

I didn’t see a thread about those other projects. If you could point me to them I will gladly rant, rave and rail with all of the keyboard vitriol and outrage I can muster.

 

[spat]

I didn’t see a thread about those other projects. If you could point me to them I will gladly rant, rave and rail with all of the keyboard vitriol and outrage I can muster.

So, you only get wound up about things you're told to get wound up about ?

If you're all upset that we spend some money so we don't have to entertain foreign dignitaries in a tent on the muddy grass anymore, how do you feel about this ?

Fed's $2.5 billion renovation broke no laws, but watchdog blasts cost overruns

A new report from the Federal Reserve's watchdog found that the Fed board failed to effectively manage renovations to its headquarters, but no laws were broken.

finance.yahoo.com

 

[Beerman]

So, you only get wound up about things you're told to get wound up about ?

If you're all upset that we spend some money so we don't have to entertain foreign dignitaries in a tent on the muddy grass anymore, how do you feel about this ?

Fed's $2.5 billion renovation broke no laws, but watchdog blasts cost overruns

A new report from the Federal Reserve's watchdog found that the Fed board failed to effectively manage renovations to its headquarters, but no laws were broken.

finance.yahoo.com

Pretty sure I addressed that in post #6.

 

[Beerman]

So, you only get wound up about things you're told to get wound up about ?

If you're all upset that we spend some money so we don't have to entertain foreign dignitaries in a tent on the muddy grass anymore, how do you feel about this ?

Fed's $2.5 billion renovation broke no laws, but watchdog blasts cost overruns

A new report from the Federal Reserve's watchdog found that the Fed board failed to effectively manage renovations to its headquarters, but no laws were broken.

finance.yahoo.com

That ain’t taxpayer money, though.

 

[spat]

That ain’t taxpayer money, though.

Curious where you think it comes from then.

 

[Beerman]

Curious where you think it comes from then.

The Fed is self funded.

 

[pshift]

The dollar is going to fall rapidly and be worth nothing. Cash is no longer king.

 

[Beerman]

Where does the Fed Reserve get its money to waste on overblown renovation projects?

 

[spat]

The Fed is self funded.

By inflating the currency.

By that logic ballroom isn't taxpayer money either, they just pay for it out of the deficit spending.

 

[Beerman]

By inflating the currency.

By that logic ballroom isn't taxpayer money either, they just pay for it out of the deficit spending.

Believe whatever makes you feel good. I think this country has a whole lot of extremely serious problems. I also think it has a huge amount of positives. We can always do better, improve, unite. Onward and upward. At the end of the day, though, it just doesn’t matter what I think or believe.

 

[spat]

Believe whatever makes you feel good. I think this country has a whole lot of extremely serious problems. I also think it has a huge amount of positives. We can always do better, improve, unite. Onward and upward. At the end of the day, though, it just doesn’t matter what I think or believe.

It's true, neither of our opinions has any real effect in the real world.

But, as a practical matter, no federal spending is actually taxpayer dollars. They'll spend whatever's in the budget, and what's collected in taxes doesn't matter.

Basically they spend whatever they want, and then just hope the taxes are enough to keep the inflation from getting too out of hand.

 

[FP1201]

I think it's interesting and in typical duplicitous fashion how the media and pundits failed to disclose the six floors of hardened infrastructure instead they focused on the "BallRoom" making it seem as though it were just some palatial extravagance instead of a sorely needed venue. Government and the Office of POTUS hasn't gotten any smaller or less dangerous.

 

[spat]

I think it's interesting and in typical duplicitous fashion how the media and pundits failed to disclose the six floors of hardened infrastructure instead they focused on the "BallRoom" making it seem as though it were just some palatial extravagance instead of a sorely needed venue. Government and the Office of POTUS hasn't gotten any smaller or less dangerous.

And they insist it's perfectly reasonable to entertain world leaders in a tent on a muddy lawn.

It's honestly embarrassing we haven't done this long ago.