Payback: Republican Trump targeted is now going after his ballroom

U.S. President Donald Trump looks up as he participates in a roundtable on antifa on September 22, at the White House (REUTERS)

A GOP senator Trump successfully ousted is now costing him a vote for his ballroom.

U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA), who just days ago lost his primary race to a Trump-endorsed Republican, says he’s a no on the $1 billion the administration is asking for security upgrades to the $400 million ballroom.

Cassidy had voted to convict Trump in his 2021 impeachment trial, and the president responded by endorsing his opponent.

“I just know where I am on the ballroom,” Cassidy said Tuesday afternoon, according to Semafor congressional bureau chief Burgess Everett.

The two-term Republican challenged the administration’s building process.

“They’ve not put out a bid, they’ve not done architectural, they’ve not done engineering, they’ve not done environmental, they haven’t done any of that, they’ve not done historic, which I’m sure they’re meant to do,” he said. “And so they don’t know how much money they should ask for, but they picked a number.”

“That’s not the way to run the government,” Cassidy added. “So they just want a pot of money, and I think they need to give us more detail.”

The Senate is expected to vote on Wednesday on reconciliation legislation that originally was slated to include the $1 billion funding for the Secret Service, which includes the security enhancements.

Cassidy is “noncommittal” on the reconciliation bill itself as well, Everett noted.

Senate Republicans, Politico’s Jordain Carney reports, are “currently short of the votes to include East Wing/ballroom security funding in their reconciliation bill.”

Senate Republican Majority Leader John Thune, when asked about funding the $1 billion, appeared to focus his attention on the main aspects of the legislation.

“The principal objective in this reconciliation bill is to ensure that ICE and CBP are funded,” he said.

The president took time on Tuesday to share specific details about the ballroom and the security construction with reporters.

“All of these columns, they go directly right to the roof of the building,” Trump said of the ballroom in remarks to the press pool. “And again, we call it a drone port. It’s set up for unlimited numbers of drones.”

“When this is finished,” he said, “my term ends shortly after that. This is really for other presidents, this is not for me. This is my gift to the United States of America. I’m going to be able to use it very little.”

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