OAN Staff Lillian Mann and Brooke Mallory
1:39 PM – Tuesday, May 19, 2026
President Donald Trump gathered the press for an impromptu viewing of the ongoing White House ballroom construction project, where he showed off the impressive security features as well as its Roman and Greek-inspired architecture.
At the construction site on Tuesday morning, Trump described the scope of the project as construction workers hammered in the background, rushing to finish the project in “six or seven months,” according to the president.
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The project was initially set for $200 million, but then jumped to $400 million. Now the GOP hopes to secure a $1 billion security package in order to help fund the additional security aspects of the ballroom, at the request of the military, according to the president.
Earlier this month, Trump also blamed the “Fake News” for calling it a cost overrun, stating that the price tag grew since “deep-rooted studies” showed the structure needed to be twice the original size and of much higher quality to accommodate future inaugurations and massive events.
The president is strictly talking about the surface-level ballroom. He argues that the ballroom is essentially just a lavish “shed” built on top of a massive underground military complex requested by the Pentagon.
Therefore, the administration specified that private donors are still paying for the ballroom itself, but the public should pay to harden the White House complex underneath it.
“This is all my money and donors’ money. This is all tax free,” Trump said. “The only budget change would be that we doubled the size, at the request of the military,” he added.
Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough declared that the $1 billion security provision could not be passed using fast-track budget reconciliation rules, prompting Republicans to seek alternative routes for the security funding.
“We have a budget in the secret service and the military to do some of the work right here,” Trump said, gesturing to the additional security and extra strong concrete being used to strengthen the fortress-like building. “I’ve built a lot of great things. But it’ll never be anything like this.”
“Because of the height, we get a very clear view of everything, all over Washington,” he added.
The president then gestured to the black fencing surrounding the construction site.
“The roof is dead flat. With absolutely nothing but strength on it, it’s very strong steel,” Trump told reporters. “This is a room that’s been wanted for 150 years by presidents. We have no room to have any events,” he continued, adding that last month’s shooting at the White House Correspondents dinner “could not happen here” — referring to the planned structure.
“This is a gift for the United States of America. Its going to be one of the most beautiful buildings that’s ever been built in the country … You have to understand, when this is finished, my term ends, this is really for other presidents, this is not for me. This is my gift to the United States of America, I’m going to be able to use it very little, because when its finished — we’re talking about six or seven months — but it will be used for, hopefully hundreds of years for other presidents.”
The new ballroom will reportedly feature “4-inch glass,” Trump added, which he noted appears almost invisible despite being able to stop “just about anything.” He later described the roof as “drone proof.”
“If a drone hits it, it bounces off,” Trump explained.
The fortress-like roof of the new building will double as a military “drone port” or “drone gallery” engineered to deploy and support an unlimited number of defensive unmanned aircraft.
In presenting his vision, President Trump also heavily emphasized the structure’s classical Greek and Roman-inspired architecture, noting that despite the unprecedented scale of the construction, guests will still access the main entrance directly through the existing White House layout.
Beneath the surface, the facility is designed to plunge roughly six stories deep into the ground, housing a high-tech military hospital and defense research facility that will operate completely secure under the protective shield of the heavily reinforced ballroom above.
“It’s a very complex building… everything is connected and intertwined… In terms of the beauty, probably the closest thing to this would be the U.S. supreme court,” Trump proclaimed. “Everyone wants to be here for the first event. We’re talking about heads of nation…”
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