{"id":409,"date":"2026-06-16T22:06:38","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T22:06:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/americanlivingreport.com\/?p=409"},"modified":"2026-06-16T22:06:38","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T22:06:38","slug":"youre-paying-for-trumps-ballroom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/americanlivingreport.com\/?p=409","title":{"rendered":"You\u2019re paying for Trump\u2019s ballroom"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<p><em>This story appeared in The Logoff, a daily newsletter that helps you stay informed about the Trump administration without letting political news take over your life. Subscribe here<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/americanlivingreport.com\/?p=407\">Why the Supreme Court is fighting over deadly gas and firing squads<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><strong>Welcome to The Logoff:<\/strong> You\u2019re paying for Donald Trump\u2019s ballroom. And it\u2019s getting even more expensive.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><strong>What\u2019s happening?<\/strong> This is far from the first time The Logoff has written about the ballroom Trump is currently building on the site of the demolished East Wing of the White House \u2014 but bear with me.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>On Tuesday, the Washington Post reported new details about the structure\u2019s cost and funding, including an estimated price tag of $600 million. Of that, more than half will reportedly be taxpayer dollars \u2014 not, as Trump has previously promised, money raised entirely from private donors.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>The new price tag is also (another) significant leap in cost. When Trump first announced plans for a ballroom, he said it would cost $200 million \u2014 then $300 million, then $400 million. Now, it\u2019s tripled in price.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><strong>What\u2019s the context?<\/strong> Trump has already tried once before to get taxpayers to fund the ballroom: In May, proposed text of a Senate immigration funding bill contained $1 billion tucked away for an \u201cEast Wing Modernization Project\u201d \u2014 the ballroom. That money was later stripped from the bill, however.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/americanlivingreport.com\/?p=405\">The climate myth Democrats can\u2019t quit<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><strong>Why is the ballroom so expensive?<\/strong> Based on Trump\u2019s remarks, the ballroom\u2019s planned security footprint (and its overall size) has grown substantially over time. It will now, according to Trump, include a \u201cmassive\u201d subterranean military complex and a hospital, as well as \u201cthe greatest drone empire that you\u2019ve ever seen.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>The Trump White House has leaned on those national security features as a justification for the new construction, including after a shooting at an April press dinner attended by Trump and again this week, after an attack on Trump\u2019s birthday fight night was reportedly stopped by the FBI (how the ballroom could have helped protect the massive outdoor event, exactly, is unclear).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>As the Wall Street Journal reported over the weekend, the ballroom is also being built at double time as the administration attempts to \u201coutrun\u201d court rulings that could stop it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<h2>And with that, it\u2019s time to log off\u2026<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>I appreciated this reminder from my colleague Jonquilyn Hill that writing things by hand is good for our brains and we should take the time to do it more often. (I promised my editor I won\u2019t start filing this newsletter in longhand, though.)<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/americanlivingreport.com\/?p=403\">Putin\u2019s plan to live forever<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Plus, a World Cup thing: The Scotland fans chartering their own school buses.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Thanks for reading, have a great evening, and we\u2019ll see you back here tomorrow!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div><span>See More<!-- -->:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Donald Trump<\/li>\n<li>Politics<\/li>\n<li>The Logoff<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\ufeffThe president is grabbing more than $300 million in taxpayer money for the project.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":408,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-409","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>You\u2019re paying for Trump\u2019s ballroom - American Living Report<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/americanlivingreport.com\/?p=409\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"You\u2019re paying for Trump\u2019s ballroom - American Living Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\ufeffThe president is grabbing more than $300 million in taxpayer money for the project.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/americanlivingreport.com\/?p=409\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"American Living Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-16T22:06:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanlivingreport.com\\\/?p=409#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanlivingreport.com\\\/?p=409\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanlivingreport.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b970e3bc484fe2e26860a4380d70de8\"},\"headline\":\"You\u2019re paying for Trump\u2019s ballroom\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-16T22:06:38+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanlivingreport.com\\\/?p=409\"},\"wordCount\":483,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanlivingreport.com\\\/?p=409#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanlivingreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/cd83545c04bca7ceb8576265567f0b5a.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/americanlivingreport.com\\\/?p=409#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanlivingreport.com\\\/?p=409\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanlivingreport.com\\\/?p=409\",\"name\":\"You\u2019re paying for Trump\u2019s ballroom - American Living Report\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanlivingreport.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanlivingreport.com\\\/?p=409#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanlivingreport.com\\\/?p=409#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanlivingreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/cd83545c04bca7ceb8576265567f0b5a.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-16T22:06:38+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanlivingreport.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b970e3bc484fe2e26860a4380d70de8\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanlivingreport.com\\\/?p=409#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/americanlivingreport.com\\\/?p=409\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanlivingreport.com\\\/?p=409#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanlivingreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/cd83545c04bca7ceb8576265567f0b5a.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanlivingreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/cd83545c04bca7ceb8576265567f0b5a.webp\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":624},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanlivingreport.com\\\/?p=409#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanlivingreport.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"You\u2019re paying for Trump\u2019s ballroom\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanlivingreport.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanlivingreport.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"American Living Report\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanlivingreport.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanlivingreport.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b970e3bc484fe2e26860a4380d70de8\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/americanlivingreport.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanlivingreport.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"You\u2019re paying for Trump\u2019s ballroom - American Living Report","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/americanlivingreport.com\/?p=409","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"You\u2019re paying for Trump\u2019s ballroom - American Living Report","og_description":"\ufeffThe president is grabbing more than $300 million in taxpayer money for the project.","og_url":"https:\/\/americanlivingreport.com\/?p=409","og_site_name":"American Living Report","article_published_time":"2026-06-16T22:06:38+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/americanlivingreport.com\/?p=409#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/americanlivingreport.com\/?p=409"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/americanlivingreport.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7b970e3bc484fe2e26860a4380d70de8"},"headline":"You\u2019re paying for Trump\u2019s ballroom","datePublished":"2026-06-16T22:06:38+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/americanlivingreport.com\/?p=409"},"wordCount":483,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/americanlivingreport.com\/?p=409#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/americanlivingreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/cd83545c04bca7ceb8576265567f0b5a.webp","articleSection":["Interesting"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/americanlivingreport.com\/?p=409#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/americanlivingreport.com\/?p=409","url":"https:\/\/americanlivingreport.com\/?p=409","name":"You\u2019re paying for Trump\u2019s ballroom - American Living Report","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/americanlivingreport.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/americanlivingreport.com\/?p=409#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/americanlivingreport.com\/?p=409#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/americanlivingreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/cd83545c04bca7ceb8576265567f0b5a.webp","datePublished":"2026-06-16T22:06:38+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/americanlivingreport.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7b970e3bc484fe2e26860a4380d70de8"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/americanlivingreport.com\/?p=409#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/americanlivingreport.com\/?p=409"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/americanlivingreport.com\/?p=409#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/americanlivingreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/cd83545c04bca7ceb8576265567f0b5a.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/americanlivingreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/cd83545c04bca7ceb8576265567f0b5a.webp","width":1200,"height":624},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/americanlivingreport.com\/?p=409#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/americanlivingreport.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"You\u2019re paying for Trump\u2019s ballroom"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/americanlivingreport.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/americanlivingreport.com\/","name":"American Living Report","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/americanlivingreport.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/americanlivingreport.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7b970e3bc484fe2e26860a4380d70de8","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/americanlivingreport.com"],"url":"https:\/\/americanlivingreport.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/americanlivingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/409","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/americanlivingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/americanlivingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americanlivingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americanlivingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=409"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/americanlivingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/409\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americanlivingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/408"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/americanlivingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=409"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americanlivingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=409"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americanlivingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=409"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}