Taxpayers pay for Trump's pet projects

Trump has made claims for how some of his pet projects will be paid for, often asserting that it will cost very little, or that it would be publicly funded. This has rarely been the case.

East Wing

Trump promised the East Wing project would be 100% privately funded with an estimated cost of $300 million. The cost has soared to $600 million, half of which is coming from taxpayer dollars.

After the attempted shooting at the White House Correspondent’s Dinner, Republicans in Congress tried and failed to allocate $1 billion in government funding for the East Wing. Since the funding wasn’t provided, in June, the White House disbursed approximately $350 million in taxpayer dollars to the Secret Service, drawing on funds allocated by Congress in last year’s reconciliation package for personnel, training facilities, programming, technology, and bonuses for Secret Service Agents. As recently as March, Trump has claimed that there are no taxpayer dollars being spent on the project, but internal documents show funds being disbursed for the project from the Secret Service, the White House military office, and the executive residence, all of which are taxpayer funded.

The White House argues that security upgrades for a hospital beneath the ballroom and a rooftop drone center are separate projects from the ballroom.

Triumphal Arch

Another capital project is the Triumphal Arch, which would stand 250 feet tall near the military’s Arlington Cemetery. Last year, Trump said the arch would be paid for with unused funds raised from the ballroom, but public funds will be used although there is no cost estimate yet. It’s unclear what funds will be left over from the East Wing project, if any, since they’re already tapping into public funds.

Freedom 250

There was a confusing mix of events celebrating America’s 250th birthday this year. A decade ago, Congress began planning for America 250 celebration events. But Trump put together his own set of events under the Department of Interior and called them Freedom 250. These events included a state fair on the National Mall, a UFC fight on the White House lawn, a fireworks show, and the “Patriot Games” high school athletics competition. At least $68 million in taxpayer funding was directed to the Department of Interior for “A250 events” and to “support significant events to commemorate the nation’s semiquincentennial.” Corporate donors with conflicts of interest including government contracts, such as Palantir, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and United Airlines purchased sponsorship packages with benefits including branding, speaking opportunities, and access to Trump at a private reception. Democrats on the House Natural Resources Committee called Freedom 250 a “hotbed of corruption and self-enrichment” and accused the organization of criminal fraud. Lawmakers have also alleged that the Trump Administration illegally allocated $150 million intended for America 250 towards Trump’s Freedom 250 events.

Reflecting Pool

Trump’s original estimate of the cost of the Reflecting Pool renovation was $1.5 million. But 20 days before he made that announcement, Atlantic Industrial Coatings was granted a no-bid contract to line the pool for $6.9 million, and Green Water Solutions was granted a no-bid contract for $1.7 million for a new pump system. Atlantic Industrial Coatings was paid an additional $7.7 million in taxpayer dollars in June, for a total of more than $16 million. But the job didn’t stick and the pool had to be drained again, after Trump claimed without evidence that vandals cut football field sized gashes in the lining.

Qatari Jet

The jet that Trump was gifted by Qatar will serve as Air Force One until Boeing delivers on a new plane in two years, and then will be donated to Trump’s future presidential library. The Air Force has stated that the cost to taxpayers to retrofit the aircraft came in under the $400 million value of the plane itself and that they spared no risk for security concerns. But after Trump took the newly renovated plane to Turkey for a NATO summit this month, he flew back on the old Air Force One due to security concerns at the advice of the Secret Service, according to reporting by the New York Times which has become the target of an FBI investigation over that reporting. It’s unclear what upgrades were made to the jet, but it appears that further upgrades will be needed to address apparent security concerns.

Helipad

Construction began recently without Congressional or review panel approval on the White House South Lawn, where Lockheed Martin subsidiary Sikorsky is building a helipad to accommodate helicopters purchased by the Obama Administration. The newer helicopters have been used over the years, but not typically to transport the President to and from the South Lawn due to damage to the grass caused by their more powerful engines. The helipad will be made of granite, rather than poured concrete, and engraved with a presidential seal. The cost is estimated between $5 and $6 million, which Sikorsky has donated to the National Park Service. However, the project has been sped up with a goal of completion before Chinese President Xi Xinping’s state visit in September which would increase the cost to taxpayers by $875,000 according to reporting by the Washington Post.