The new White House ballroom is set to include a military bunker, President Donald Trump revealed on Sunday night.
“The military is building a massive complex under the ballroom,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One. “The ballroom essentially becomes a shed.”
The revelation signals Trump is largely rebuilding a key part of the East Wing, which was demolished to make room for the 90,000 square-foot ballroom.
Up until the demolition, the Presidential Emergency Operations Center sat underneath the East Wing, functioning as a secure bunker for the president and his team.
It had been used during 9/11 by former President George W. Bush and also by Trump in 2020 during the George Floyd riots.
The ballroom itself will also be receiving some significant security measures.
While holding up concept boards for the project, Trump said it will have bulletproof glass and “drone-proof” roofs and ceilings.
“Unfortunately, we’re living in an age when that’s a good thing,” he added.
Those enhancements, for now, have left the cost unchanged.
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The ballroom is estimated to cost as much as $400 million, which is being covered by donors, including multiple Big Tech companies. Trump has insisted zero taxpayer dollars will be used on the project.
In his update for the project on Sunday night, Trump said it is ahead of schedule and under budget.
