President Donald Trump is reportedly planning yet another construction job at the White House.
Trump has already demolished the entire East Wing to make way for his supersized vanity ballroom, as well as paving over the historic Rose Garden.
The 79-year-old has also created his own Presidential Hall of Fame outside the West Wing, covered the walls of the Oval Office in gold, and erected towering flagpoles at the front and rear of the building.
Now, Trump is investigating the installation of a helipad at the White House to prevent the South Lawn grass being scorched by powerful new Marine Corps helicopters, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Citing sources close to the plans, the Journal said Trump has already discussed the design of the helipad with his associates. Other sources told The Washington Post the permanent helipad on the South Lawn could be installed as soon as this summer.
The South Lawn has long been used to land helicopters at the White House. But the Journal’s sources note that the new VH-92A Patriot is more powerful than the VH-3D Sea King it is replacing, which has been in use for decades.
The new, more powerful generation of helicopters have been known to burn grass so they are not allowed to touch down on the South Lawn, while the VH-3D lands on small boards which are placed underneath its wheels.
Last year, Bloomberg reported the problem had first been identified in 2018 when the VH-92 Patriot’s spinning rotors and engine exhaust burned the White House lawn.
The VH-92 Patriot is the base presidential variant of the Sikorsky S-92 helicopter, while the VH-92A is the highly militarized, fully upgraded model designed for the U.S. Marine Corps fleet to serve as Marine One.
The upgraded model has been earmarked to be the full-time presidential helicopter for over a decade, according to the Post. It has yet to be used to fly a president to or from the South Lawn, but has been used to fly Trump elsewhere.
The VH-92A cost around $215 million each, according to a 2019 report by the independent Government Accountability Office. The Marine Corps ordered 23 for the presidential fleet at a cost of around $5 billion.
The Marine Corps told the Post that the VH-92A “continues to support administrative lifts of the President outside the National Capital Region.”
It said its Marine One squadron is “appropriately resourced to fly all required missions.”
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House and Marine One for comment.
A retired colonel who flew on Marine One missions said installing a permanent helipad would ruin the White House, telling the Post it would be “stupid from an aesthetic standpoint.”
Ray L’Heureux, who retired in 2011, said the South Lawn is “historic” and the “back yard of the White House.” He suggested a temporary landing pad could be used.
Trump previously claimed he paved over the historic Rose Garden lawn to make life easier for guests wearing high heels.
“What was happening is, that’s supposed to have events. Every event you have, it’s soaking wet,” Trump said last August, adding “It’s soaking wet... and the women with the high heels, it’s just too much.”
The president, who last week said the White House “was a s--t house” before he returned, has also repeatedly gushed over his ballroom, which is now set to cost over $400 million.
Trump bulldozed the entire East Wing of the White House to make room for the ballroom, which will have bulletproof glass.
“We’re building a ballroom in the back, which will be, I think, the most beautiful ballroom anywhere in the world,” Trump said last week.
“You’ll never see anything like it. And it’ll also be very safe, it’s got glass this thick,” he added. “It’s at the highest level of safety.”
