President Donald Trump made use of the newly installed White House helipad for the first time on Monday after a ribbon-cutting ceremony on the South Lawn.
The post Trump Uses White House Helipad for First Time After Ribbon Cutting appeared first on Breitbart.
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump made use of the newly installed White House helipad for the first time on Monday after a ribbon-cutting ceremony on the South Lawn.
Construction workers lined the new path from the White House residence to Marine One on the South Lawn as the president cut the ribbon and made his way to the presidential helicopter for the helipad’s inaugural takeoff.
He set out for New York City, where he met with Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) and is meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron Friday before delivering remarks at the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday.
The new helipad is made of black-and-white granite with the presidential seal. The helipad is set to accommodate the VH-92A Patriot helicopter, which would destroy grass at the White House when landing and taking off, unlike the VH-3D Sea King, which has long been used as Marine One, as the Wall Street Journal noted in the first report detailing plans to install a helipad.
Press was on hand for the event, but clear audio of his remarks was not available to accompany the White House video feed, as the five major networks that typically provide video coverage are boycotting presidential events in retaliation for the president revoking White House access from Politico, CNN, and MS NOW on Friday.
Trump called the helipad “a work of art” in a Truth Social post last week. On Monday, he touted the maiden liftoff.
“We are just leaving the White House Lawn on the maiden voyage from the newly built, and very beautiful, Heliport! I want to thank Jim Taiclet, CEO of Lockheed Martin, who made this valuable contribution to our Country,” he wrote in a Truth Social post.
“Our Government has been thinking about doing this for 25 years, but was never able to get it done. I get things done! Also, and most importantly, THANK YOU to the Great Construction Workers and Stone Masons of the Washington, D.C., area, who created something very special, and to Clark Construction for its wonderful supervisory work,” he added.
This is Trump’s latest project to upgrade the White House grounds since returning to office. So far, he has installed two flagpoles on the South and North lawns, standing nearly 100 feet tall; installed a patio in the Rose Garden; restored the columns at the north entrance of the residence; and made significant headway on the White House ballroom in the East Wing.
