U.S. President Donald Trump holds an image of a rendering of the new White House ballroom to be built, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., October 22, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
Republicans got a line-by-line accounting of how President Donald Trump is spending $1 billion on his 90,000-square-foot ballroom at a meeting on Tuesday afternoon.
According to Axios, the White House is making the case that the project will include a range of "security measures." The cost of the ballroom started at just $200 million, then doubled in size and in budget. The security measures were already included in the cost, according to the court filings from White House that date back to February.
At the end of March, Judge Richard Leon issued a ruling to pause the ballroom construction project. The White House has since claimed that the ballroom is about security, but Leon didn't buy it. Planned for under the ballroom is a massive structure to replace the "bunker" with a nicer space, as well as add other offices.
The administration's claim is that the entire ballroom project is necessary for national security because of the bunker's reconstruction. But Judge Leon issued a clarification on April 16, saying that the bunker and the ballroom are not the same projects and that the security portion may continue. It's the ballroom that may not.
Since the White House Press Correspondents' Association dinner, Trump and his allies in Congress have claimed that the ballroom is necessary to protect Trump from frequent attacks on him when he is in public
Politico reporter Meredith Lee Hill said the White House's efforts indicate it intends to lean "heavily" on Republicans to approve the $1 billion.
One House Republican went so far as to say it’s going to be “ugly."
Indeed, recent polls taken before and after the gunman rushed Secret Service agents at the White House Correspondents' dinner show that just 28 percent of Americans support the ballroom project.
The White House wants the GOP to add $1 billion into the budget reconciliation package that will also fund ICE and Border Patrol.
Axios reported that the one-page document lists specifics on the funding. What the piece listed, however, has nothing to do with the ballroom itself. They cite "hardening" the White House complex to add "bulletproof glass, drone detection technologies, chemical and other threat filtration and detection systems."
According to a 2011 BBC report, all windows in the White House are already bullet-resistant. A 2020 report from Business Insider said that the White House has a specialized air-ventilation system, too.
Another investment is Trump's demand for a $180 million "new White House visitor security screening facility." The plan for this was already in place, an April 2, 2026 document from the National Capital Planning Commission showed. It was first announced in March by Politico.
It also asks for $175 million twice. Once for Secret Service training "in the modern threat environment" and another for "improving security for Secret Service protectees." Trump's five children all have Secret Service protection. The Secret Service budget was increased last year to $3.5 billion, according to the 2026 Department of Homeland Security budget.
The first line-item includes funds for "drone detection technology," but it also asks again for $150 million for the Secret Service's "work to counter drones, airspace incursions, unmanned systems, biological threats and other emerging threats through investments in state-of-the-art technologies."
All drones are banned in Washington D.C., within a 15-mile radius of downtown. A 30-mile radius bans recreational drones unless they are officially registered and marked. They must fly below 400 feet at all times and cannot be near airspace, the FAA website explains. The U.S. military currently monitors all drone activity in the region. So does the Federal Air Marshal Service. They use special sensors and software running 24/7 to identify drone operators' locations, according to a March 2026 report from Forbes. Trump has also requested a so-called "drone-proof roof," Trump told reporters in March, the New York Times reported.
Trump also wants a $100 million budget to heighten security for "high-profile national events," Axios closed.