Senate Republicans unveil $72 billion spending package, including a $1 billion line item for Grampy's ballroom

[Miles Archer]

Senate Republicans unveiled a $72 billion spending package late Monday night, and onlookers were left stunned after discovering a $1 billion line item related to President Donald Trump’s White House ballroom project, which he’s long claimed would be entirely funded by private donors.

“What happened to the ballroom being paid for by private funds?” asked political strategist Reed Galen, co-founder of the conservative organization The Lincoln Project, writing in a social media post on X late Monday night.

Unveiled by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Republicans plan to advance the spending package using reconciliation, a process by which the Senate can move legislation with a simple majority and avoid the 60-vote threshold typically required to overcome the filibuster.

“Add the ballroom to the laundry list of things Trump said someone else would pay for,” said Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D-AZ), writing in a social media post on X. “Ultimately, of course, it’s always the American people footing the bill for his outrageous pet projects. A $1BN price tag while he rips away your healthcare. Sickening.”

https://www.rawstory.com/white-house-ballroom-2676851455/

[chouchou]

1. What? He...He...He Lied?

We would have never seen that coming.

[Botany]

3. First it was 200 million $s, then 400 million $s, and now it is @ 1 billion $s and what about being privately ....

…..funded?

As of May 2026, President Donald Trump has stated that the construction of a new, roughly $300 million to $400 million ballroom at the White House—which replaced the historic East Wing—is funded by private donations. While Trump initially pledged it would be funded with "zero cost to the American Taxpayer," the project has faced legal challenges regarding its financing. PBS

[chouchou]

8. Seems like he never says anything that has a smidgen of truth.

I wish he would say: "I'm going to live for many years"

[Botany]

17. You gotta wonder just how big the kick backs and grifts will be on this project?

From this:





Hand split granite cobbles… timeless quality.

To this:

[Bayard]

55. It was a lovely space.....

Now its being replaced by a gargantuan tacky useless fake gold palace in a tribute to trump's ego.

[Johonny]

2. This is the type of thing that will help win the senate

Affordability, run against a 1 billion dollar ballroom!

[Lovie777]

4. It have not passed yet, I don't think..............

Fetterman will be on board.

[ColoringFool]

20. Twenty Bucks Says You're Wrong.

[choie]

36. You're joking, right?

trump has fetterman in his pocket.

[OGBuzz]

5. So what's going to happen to all those millions already donated? Will the donors be refunded....

or does Trump get to keep it all? It sure looks like this was a scam from the start but at least this time Trump is ripping off the very rich. Now it's on to the next "privately funded" vanity project for the self described "most powerful person to ever live".

[ColoringFool]

21. Let Me Think.....🤔💡 ➡️ 💰💰💰💰💰 ➡️ #️⃣4️⃣7️⃣ ➡️ 🏦

[Owens]

35. It's called bribes

They were bribes!

[Quanto Magnus]

40. Trump has already

pocketed all that money....

[patphil]

44. Think of it as a donation to the Trump retirement fund.

[samsingh]

6. the same way mexico was going to pay for the wall

prices would come down
covid would be gone in 2 weeks
iran would rollover in 3 days

[SamuelAdams]

7. Right after the WHCD, the price tag was $400 million.

How did it go up 2.5 times in ten days? Trump just keeps all the private donations already made?

[chouchou]

10. Your words are true.

Even worse..it wouldn't surprise us if he cheated the construction people.
Par for the course and all that..

[LetMyPeopleVote]

9. MaddowBlog-Republicans want to spend $1 billion in taxpayer money on Trump's $400 million ballroom

The controversial vanity project was already unpopular. The GOP’s planned use of public funds is poised to make matters worse.

When the latest polling showed 2-to-1 opposition to the WH ballroom project, the survey question emphasized private financing.

Now congressional Republicans want to spend billion in taxpayer money on a 0 million project.
www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2026-05-05T12:57:58.925Z

https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/republicans-want-1-billion-taxpayer-money-trump-ballroom

It was against this backdrop that GOP lawmakers unveiled the details of their reconciliation bill, which included an unexpected element. NBC News reported:

Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, [on Monday night] released his committee’s part of the long-term Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol funding bill, which includes $1 billion for security features related to the White House ballroom.

The funding could not be used for non-security elements, according to the legislative text.

To be sure, the proposal isn’t just about the ballroom. On the contrary, Republicans are pushing a $72 billion reconciliation package that includes, among other things, more than $38 billion for ICE, roughly $26 billion for CBP and an additional $5 billion for DHS.

To the surprise of no one, the bill also ignores the reform measures Democrats began pushing after the shooting deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minnesota......

But it’s the $1 billion for “security adjustments and upgrades” to Trump’s ballroom vanity project that’s likely to be among the most controversial parts of the Republicans’ plan.

In case this isn’t obvious, the White House boasted last summer that the price tag for the ballroom would be $200 million, and every penny would come from private donations. By October, the price tag had grown to $250 million. Soon after, it was $300 million. Late last year, it was up to $400 million — though, again, the official line was that American taxpayers wouldn’t be on the hook for the costs at all, even as the White House went out of its way to hide the identities of donors......

Put another way, congressional Republicans expect the public to pay $1 billion for a $400 million ballroom.

We’ll learn soon enough whether and to what extent the legislation changes in the coming days and weeks, but for now, GOP officials should probably keep in mind that polls show 2-to-1 opposition to the White House ballroom project, and that’s when the survey question emphasized private financing. Watch this space.

[dalton99a]

14. +1

[travelingthrulife]

18. The entire reason for that 'attempted assassination' ploy. Price goes up when they say the word

'security'.

[underpants]

26. That headline sums it up perfectly.

$300M no $400M no

ONE BILLION DOLLARS

[LudwigPastorius]

38. "ONE BILLION DOLLARS"

...before cost overruns, that is.

[underpants]

42. Well yeah, what with the Strait being shut down 'n everything

[Martin68]

11. Makes me sick.

[twodogsbarking]

12. I don't think Mexico is going to pay for the walll.

[LudwigPastorius]

39. ...and Arthur Murray ain't gonna pay for the ballroom either.

[Ray Bruns]

13. "What happened to the ballroom being paid for by private funds?"

The same thing that happened to the great healthcare plan and Mexico paying for the wall. It never existed.

[dalton99a]

15. Republicans are not cowards. They are traitors and accomplices.

[twodogsbarking]

16. Costs have more than doubled since the start of the Iranian Notawar.

[Biophilic]

19. It's not just trump who is mentally ill and incredibly unintelligent.

It appears to be the entire republican party. Do they really think that people are going to stand for this kind of waste and evilness or do they think they will have so much under control they don't need to worry about everyone else in the country.

[flamingdem]

25. Feels like they're depending on the GOP blocking the elections

Why else would they participate in this folly?

[Biophilic]

29. Truly. Either they think the election is fixed or they really are that dumb.

Bluntly both are equally scary.

[Botany]

31. The GOP owns both Dominion Voting Systems and E.S.& S. Voting Systems. In 2024 they had firmware

patches on their central tabulators and operating systems. Do not be surprised even with Trump and
the G.O. P.’s numbers in the toilet if they win this fall and our republican run and owned media will sell
the story that the dems just couldn’t get the needed turn out. Peter Thiel, Elon Musk, Palantir, and Musk’s
DOGE Boys/Ballotproof are into our voting systems and data big time. Trump and the DoJ trying to get
voter lists right now are all about finding what #s they have to hit to “win again.”

[Joinfortmill]

22. Nope, nope, nope. And. Fuck, fuck, fuck.

[ChicagoTeamster]

23. It was a lie like Mexico paying for the wall. And It's not just the ballroom, it's also the Hitler Bunker underneath.

Last edited Tue May 5, 2026, 03:50 PM - Edit history (1)

Trump is having the government pay for his Hitler fantasies. And replenishing the weapons used for his war crimes committedagainst fishing boats in the Caribbean, and in his illegal military operations against Iran with Israel, and paying for the ICE to commit civil rights violations

[HighFired49]

49. Exactly right!

When everyone was in shock about the demolition of the White House wing, and raising hell with the dotard, I think he just came up with a spur of the moment line of BS excuse about someone else paying for his f..k up in order to deflect criticism. He never said who was donating, nor how much was being donated. I think it was his typical BS to cover his ass.

[flamingdem]

24. So he's keeping the donations for himself

and making the rest of us cover the bill.

[republianmushroom]

27. And the supposed fiscal responsible party.

wink, wink, chuckle, chuckle, ha, ha

[Traildogbob]

28. I was watching

Nat Geo this AM about Earth Quake research. The doc showed the extensive damage and death from the Cali Quake that flattened multi layer bridges. Massive massive damage. The projected cost was $8 billion. The perspective of what Billions in construction and repairs look like to someone that has no concept of a billion dollars.
So the billion+ dollar ballroom, that will over run even that is sickening.
And remember, Trump has stolen 6 billion from us in the last year and a half.
Jarod has been gifted, so far nearly 8 billion and growing, from middle eastern, terrorist supporting states.
This admin keeps throwing around billions of OUR FUCKING tax dollars like there is an endless bucket of cash, that they contribute nothing to.
And they tell us we get nothing to help us.
And 1/3 of this country love every damn one of them.
They discuss bilking billions from us like we talk about a few hundred for bills each month.
Every day, another multi $ billion project that benefit and enrich them.
When is it enough, President Kennedy asked republicans that decades ago. And still no answer, except in the amount they keep spending and no end in sight. And nothing for us that pay those costs.
GQP are criminal thieves, with full support of an evilgelical Jesus.

[themaguffin]

30. What bullshit

[RANDYWILDMAN]

32. We gonna be bankrupt by July

and Trump can just declare victory and move on to the next project.

Damn this might the most phucked up bedazzled ballroom ever

Does any one smell government waste...who is the General contractor for this ballroom could it be TRUMCO.....of course is

[joanbarnes]

33. ....but still going after Jerome Powell for "cost overruns....."

[Owens]

34. How much is going into their pockets?

Follow the money!!

[twodogsbarking]

37. If they don't give it to him he will take it from the offense budget.

Always money there.

[COL Mustard]

41. "What happened to the ballroom being paid for by private funds?" asked political strategist Reed Galen......

BWAHAHAHAHA.....that's the funniest thing I've read in YEARS!!!

it's something wgwn the sheep realize they're being sheared. I know, Reed is anti-Trump but there are still a ton of rubes who see nothing wrong with this.

And hell, it's taxpayer money. Let's give him a bonus for having to live in old public housing. $250 million should do it, don't you think?????

[jmowreader]

43. What happened to the $200 million, $300 million and $400 million parts?

When this thing was going to be funded privately it was less than half the price of what they're asking for in tax dollars.

The Democrats really need to slip this into the bill:

"Public Laws 115-97 and 119-21 are hereby repealed in their entirety."

115-97 is Trump's big First Term tax law, and 119-21 is his Second Term tax law. If he keeps wanting to spend public money on vanity projects and unprovoked wars, there needs to be a way to pay for it.

[twodogsbarking]

45. Gee, look at my ballroom, and my hats, and my happy meal toys, and pictures of me, and me and more me.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

46. White House officials said that the legislation would authorize the entire project -- including the aboveground ballroom

Senate Republicans maintain their proposal would authorize security construction, but not Trump’s ballroom. The White House disagrees.

Link to tweet

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/05/05/senate-budget-bill-trump-ballroom

Senate Republicans late Monday proposed $1 billion to pay for new White House security measures, with lawmakers and White House officials disagreeing over whether the legislation would cover President Donald Trump’s planned ballroom.

The proposed legislative text says the money would be used for both aboveground and underground security features that the administration has declined to fully detail. The text explicitly says the money could not be used for “non-security elements” of the project, a reference to Trump’s planned ballroom.....

White House officials said Tuesday that the legislation, if enacted, would authorize the entire project — including the aboveground ballroom.

“Congress has rightly recognized the need for these funds,” White House spokesman Davis Ingle said in a statement, citing the high-profile incident last month when a gunman stormed through the security checkpoint outside the White House correspondents’ dinner. “The proposal would provide the United States Secret Service with the resources they need to fully and completely harden the White House complex, in addition to the many other critical missions for the USSS.”.....

Trump has argued that the ballroom itself is a needed national security measure so he and future presidents can safely entertain VIP guests, a message increasingly echoed by his allies in Congress after last month’s incident. Justice Department officials last week asked Leon to dissolve his order blocking construction, citing the shooting at the correspondents’ dinner in a rambling legal filing that read like one of Trump’s Truth Social posts.....

Democrats argued Tuesday that the proposal illustrates that Republicans are out of touch with voters’ needs, highlighting the broadly unpopular ballroom. Fifty-six percent of Americans oppose Trump’s decision to tear down the White House’s East Wing to make way for his planned ballroom, funded by about $400 million in private donations, while 28 percent support the project, according to a Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll conducted last month.

trump will use the $1 billion for the entire project including the aboveground ballroom. There will be no funding by private donations.

[struggle4progress]

47. Whoa! If I suddenly tear down part of a historic building, can I get $1 billion too?

[LetMyPeopleVote]

48. Here is the text of the proposed bill

I disagree with trump's position

Link to tweet

[Aviation Pro]

50. How about fuck you, Senate MAGAtαrds? Seriously, fuck you.

You're not spending mine and 10s of millions of others money on a fucking ballroom.

[JBTaurus83]

51. Dems just need a commercial

Showing the Queen and his ballroom obsession while prices of everything else goes up.

[OAITW r.2.0]

52. Nope. Unnecessary expenditure.

Redline it Dems....and let Republicans fight for it.

[Norrrm]

53. Originally, Trump said the Epstein ballroom would not affect the WH. Then he destroyed the East Wing.

[spanone]

54. Most of the money will end up in the trmp family tip jar.

...and republicans fucking know it.