WHEN YOU CONSIDER all the outrageous things President Donald Trump has done in his second term, you might be tempted to think his big ballroom project doesn’t rate high on the scale of his most authoritarian offenses—that, at worst, it’s another expensive monument to his vanity; at best, it could include some features useful to national security.
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it → consider → security
This is an enormous separation-of-powers problem that, if left unresolved, essentially renders one of Congress’s major functions meaningless.
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one → leave → functions
How is this bunker-ballroom—which has morphed into a six-story subterranean complex complete with a military hospital, facilities for unspecified research, and a rooftop drone port—being funded?
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which → morph → research
Funny story: No one really knows!
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one → know → ?
That’s not good, especially considering the White House already has a previously secret, nuclear-proof underground facility built during the Obama administration, and Trump is steamrolling ahead to build a “ballroom” that dwarfs the actual White House in square footage.
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that → ’ → footage
Many people should be able to tell us.
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people → tell → us
Five hundred and thirty-five, to be exact, because Congress’s job is to pass legislation that says how the government spends money.
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government → pass → money
Now, you may be confused, because Trump said at the outset of the project that no taxpayer money would be used to construct the ballroom—it was instead going to be a “gift” to the country fully funded by private donors.
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it → say → donors
His exact words were that it would be “taxpayer free,” that “We have no taxpayer putting up 10 cents.”
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taxpayer → have → cents
This turned out to be a bald-faced lie, but the gambit served its purpose: It bought him time to break ground.
As soon as mounds of dirt began piling up, Trump began making noises that finishing the ballroom would require taxpayer funds after all, specifically to pay for the accompanying national security support.
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finishing → turn → support
Just like the “free” Qatari plane that turned out to require a bit of extra money—nothing too serious; “less than” $400 million—in order for it to be “maxed out” with security upgrades.
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it → turn → upgrades
After the attempted shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham and Charles Grassley began taking up Trump’s requests and introduced bills to set aside the required funds.
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Graham → attempt → funds
Those efforts, however, failed.
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efforts → fail → ?
A bipartisan group of senators stripped ballroom funding from a spending bill after opposing taxpayer funding for the project.
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group → strip → project
In other words, Congress has already said no to taxpayer funding for the big, beautiful ballroom, and this should have been a stop order on the project.
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this → say → project
Because, again, if Congress doesn’t fund a president’s pet project, how does he get taxpayer money for it?
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he → fund → it
Answer:
We know: Nobody likes hitting a paywall.
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Nobody → know → paywall
We don’t particularly like putting one here, either.
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We → like → one
But democracy depends on people knowing what their government is doing.
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government → depend → what
It depends on reporters asking questions politicians would rather not answer.
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politicians → depend → questions
And it depends on publications willing to make clear, informed, passionate arguments about what it all means.
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it → depend → what
That kind of journalism costs money to make.
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kind → cost → money
It’s our Bulwark+ members whose support allows us to keep making it.
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us → ’ → it
We hope you’ll come inside.
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you → hope → ?
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subscription → get → Podcast
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who → help → membership
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