Reporting from the Jeff Bezos-owned Washington Post tells us today that Donald Trump knew that his White House ballroom would cost $600 million to build, and that more than half of that money would have to come from public sources, as he was telling the world that not a dime of the cost would come from taxpayers.
I think we can foresee more layoffs at the Post coming perhaps as soon as the end of the week after his breach of MAGA secrets from the staff.
The paper reported that it had obtained a “detailed project summary prepared for the White House by the contractor,” the Northern Virginia-based Clark Construction, dating to early March indicating that the ballroom project would cost $600 million.
From the report:
Multiple project summaries provided to the White House by Clark Construction show that internal cost estimates have been significantly higher than administration officials have acknowledged in public comments or court filings. They also show that the work was projected to rely heavily on taxpayer dollars from the moment it was announced.
It was on March 31 that Trump declared to the free world:
“This is taxpayer-free. We have no taxpayer putting up 10 cents.”
Per the Post, it was known dating back to last year that the ballroom project that Trump has been thirsting over would necessitate the use of taxpayer funds
The records obtained by The Post show that the administration and Clark worked hand in hand starting last June to determine the scope and cost of construction.
White House officials received a preliminary estimate, dated July 11, projecting that construction would cost $270 million, with over $100 million coming from taxpayers through the Secret Service and the White House Military Office, the records show.
Then, in October, as Clark Construction began its work on the demolition of the East Wing, and Trump was telling the world that the price had risen to $300 million, and that the project would be paid for “100 percent by me and some friends of mine,” internal documents showed that the contractor expected the full project to cost $478 million, with taxpayers bearing the cost of just under half that total.
In other words, you’ve known all along on this that Trump was lying to you; the reporting from the Post is now confirming that.