Trump describes massive ‘secret’ military complex being built under White House ballroom

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to the media near the ballroom construction site at the White House on May 19. Photo by Chip Somodevilla /Getty Images

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Hundreds of millions of dollars have already been spent on the construction of the new White House ballroom, according to President Donald Trump. To date, it has mostly occurred below ground level.

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During a press conference at the site on Tuesday, Trump explained that the new 90,000-square-foot White House ballroom will have a massive military complex under it.

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It will include a military hospital, research facilities and various meeting rooms in the floors below the ballroom, Trump said.

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The construction goes down “six stories deep,” he said, describing the building as “well-knit” in combining drone and missile-proofing on the roof of the ballroom, with the operational rooms below. It will be geared to “protect all of Washington.”

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“We are building it in conjunction with the U.S. military and the Secret Service,” he said, adding that both organizations are providing funding toward the construction to house their respective operations. The added capacity will “enhance” the overall construction, he added, and double the originally intended size.

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“It’s larger because they wanted more military capacity. They wanted more drone capacity,” he said.

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Trump said the new ballroom is to be capped by a flat roof that will be “drone-proof” and meant for U.S. military operations, with a 360-degree view for snipers.

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The roof will go “down into the basement. Everything is connected,” he said, with the ballroom acting as “a shield, protecting all the things that are built (underneath).”

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He said, “they couldn’t build the lower floors without that shield over the top of it.”

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Trump has said the military aspects of the construction were supposed to have been kept secret, but the details came out as part of a lawsuit filed by the National Trust for Historic Preservation in an attempt to stop the ballroom’s construction in federal court, reported USA Today.

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“I mean, now it’s no secret, the military wanted it more than anybody,” Trump said in a cabinet meeting on March 26. “It was supposed to be secret, but it became secret because of people that are really unpatriotic saying things, but doesn’t matter, doesn’t matter. It’s going to be great.”

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The federal court sided with the National Trust in late March, but an appeals court ruled in April that construction could continue on both underground and above ground portions, at least until the next hearing, which is scheduled for June 5, the BBC reported.

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Trump has also noted the now-bulldozed East Wing’s historic military use. In late March, he spoke of a previous bunker, which was built to protect President Franklin Delano Roosevelt during the Second World War.

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The Presidential Emergency Operations Center, as it has been known, was subsequently updated to protect the president from attacks, including nuclear war, reports NPR. On the day of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, several White House officials under then president George W. Bush took shelter there. He was in Florida at the time. CNN reported in January that the bunker was dismantled during the initial renovations.

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Trump has argued that the White House needs a ballroom because currently the largest White House room holds only 125 people for formal dinners. However, the National Trust argues construction went ahead without required congressional authorization.

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Asserting that the ballroom is necessary to host foreign dignitaries such a Chinese President Xi Jinping or King Charles and Queen Camilla, Trump noted the construction will conclude at the end of his term. “This is really for other presidents. This is not for me.” He asserted that the US$400-million project is being funded by his money and private donations. “This is tax-free.”

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However, the Trump administration is seeking an additional $1 billion in taxpayer funds to pay for security additions at the White House, including at the site of the new ballroom. 

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