Donald Trump seemingly forgot how much the cost of his White House ballroom has ballooned in a spiraling Truth Social post defending the vanity project.
In a typically deranged social media update, the 79-year-old claimed that the project is “coming along fantastically well” despite ongoing attempts to halt its construction.
While also taking a swipe at his old nemesis, former Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, Trump insisted that the ballroom is “on time, and under budget (Unlike the Federal Reserve Building, where ‘Too Late’ has done a terrible job of Cost and Time Control!), and at a much higher quality than I ever promised.”
Trump added that additions to the project, such as the “DronePort,” are “vital for National Security” and are being “built throughout the whole integrated, cohesive Project.”
The president defended the cost of his ballroom, for which the East Wing of the White House was demolished to make room, despite the cost being double its original estimate.
When the project was first announced, Trump claimed that the 90,000-square-foot ballroom would cost $200 million and would be largely funded by private donors.
The cost is now estimated to be at least $400 million, with the president suggesting there will be add-ons such as a “drone port” so the ballroom can serve as a “shield” for a massive underground military bunker complex featuring hospitals and research facilities.
Senate Republicans also sought to include up to $1 billion in taxpayer funds for security at the White House ballroom in an immigration enforcement bill. However, the ballroom funding has since been removed from the bill for fear that it would jeopardize passage of the larger legislation.
Elsewhere during his Truth Social rant, Trump once again lashed out at the lawsuit brought by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which is trying to block construction until it receives congressional approval and undergoes multiple independent reviews.
However, the confused president has frequently said the case was brought by “a woman walking her dog.”
“The woman that sued me has absolutely no STANDING to do so. This should not even be a case, and it is highly damaging to our Country. She is highly litigious, a serial plaintiff, and said she was bothered in her walking by the White House, but didn’t state her involvement in distant other places,” Trump wrote.
“Why then is she involved in litigation on other Developments in far distant parts of D.C.? Is she walking there, too? How is she walking on a totally closed street at the Treasury Building—Nobody is allowed to walk there? She never saw a Building, because there is no Building there.”
The woman in question is Alison Hoagland, a historic preservationist who helped the National Trust bring its lawsuit but is not the lead plaintiff.
In court filings submitted by the Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche last month—which were seemingly written by Trump himself—the Department of Justice referred to Hoagland as a “strolling woman” and a “known serial plaintiff throughout Washington, D.C.”
Speaking to The Washington Post, Hoagland said she has no idea why Trump is painting her as a “serial plaintiff” when she has not sued over any other issues in the capital.
Hoagland admitted that she has appeared at public hearings to object to Trump’s other projects, such as his plans to build a so-called “Arc de Trump” in D.C. or repaint the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.
“I show up at these hearings and testify, because I think someone should say no,” Hoagland said.
The Daily Beast has contacted Hoagland for further comment.
