National Capital Planning Commission Should Stop White House Ballroom Project
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Public Citizen is calling on the National Capital Planning Commission to stop the construction of the $400 million White House ballroom, a pet project of Trump’s after he abruptly demolished the White House East Wing in October.
On Thursday, Public Citizen and local activists gathered in Washington D.C. outside the project’s first public hearing to protest the ballroom’s construction.
In November, Public Citizen issued a report highlighting more than two dozen corporate donors and over a dozen billionaires, wealthy individuals and foundations who are backing the ballroom project, exposing a myriad of conflicts of interest concerns about pay-to-play government contracts and dropped enforcement actions. According to news reports, at least some ballroom donors are expecting to be rewarded by Trump by having their names permanently “etched in the ballroom’s brick or stone.”
“Trump’s ballroom is being constructed on a corrupt foundation that will never stand the test of time,” said Jon Golinger, Public Citizen democracy advocate. “If Trump tattoos the names of his corporate and billionaire ballroom funders on the White House it will permanently carve corruption onto the face of America. This whole ballroom scheme has been a fiasco from the moment the wrecking ball smashed into the East Wing. And it’s being funded by hundreds of millions in payoffs by government contractors and favor-seekers. This project shouldn’t move forward – it should go back to the drawing board.”
While families struggled with affordability of housing, groceries and medications, Trump spent the holiday season shopping for expensive marble for the White House ballroom, according to news reports. Reports also detail that the project budget increased from $300 million to $400 million. The American people should not be paying for this vanity project – and it’s worse, still, if the project is funded by corporations and super-rich people with business before the government.