美国总统唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)周三为他的大型白宫舞厅建设项目的成本增加进行了辩护，该项目的价格从2亿美元飙升至近4亿美元。
“成本变化的唯一原因是，经过深入研究，它的规模大约是原来的两倍，质量也比原来的方案高得多。这不足以应付必要的活动、会议，甚至未来的就职典礼，”王牌在他的社交媒体平台上写道。
“最初的价格是2亿美元，双倍规模、最高质量的完工项目将少于4亿美元。这将是宏伟的，安全的，安全的!”总统补充道。
特朗普的辩护在他之后对美联储主席杰罗姆·鲍威尔的无情批评对华盛顿特区中央银行总部数十亿美元翻新工程的监督。美联储翻新工程的成本增加了，央行表示，这是由于劳动力和材料成本上升以及对财产的不可预见的损害。
白宫此前表示，它的目标是通过私人捐款筹集4亿美元，特朗普本人也一再承诺不会用纳税人的钱来建造舞厅。
“那么我们做了这个，不费用到这纳税人“无论如何，”特朗普在2月份谈到舞厅时说。这些都是我的朋友和热爱我们国家的人捐赠的。"
但是现在，国会中的共和党人提议投资10亿美元建设项目的安全相关方面。
周二，参议院共和党人表示，他们的目标是为特勤局的安全相关方面争取10亿美元的资金……的东方包括舞厅项目在内的侧厅改造是移民执法部门更广泛的资助计划的一部分。
特朗普周三在社交媒体上为更高的成本辩护，但没有提到国会拟议的10亿美元注资。
目前还不清楚特勤局将如何花费这笔钱，鉴于该机构与白宫安全有关的大部分支出都是机密，公众可能永远不会知道。
但在联邦法院和总统自己的社交媒体帖子中，政府提供了一些安全性的例子特朗普心目中的特征。
在上月舞厅诉讼的一份文件中，司法部表示东翼项目的保护性增强措施将包括“抗导弹钢柱、军用级通风口、防无人机天花板以及防弹、防弹和防爆玻璃”，所有这些都旨在形成一个“强化的结构缓冲区”在…的东边这一建筑群不仅包括舞厅，还包括白宫的主要住宅和白宫西翼的办公室。
这份4月27日的文件还称，升级将包括“防空洞、最先进的医院和医疗设施、绝密军事设施、结构和设备、防护隔板和其他功能。”
欢迎共和党议员提出的帮助白宫发言人周一表示，他们“正确地认识到需要这些资金。”
几位民主党人批评共和党为该项目拨款10亿美元的计划。
“唐纳德·特朗普承诺，他的舞厅将使用零纳税人的钱。他撒谎，”众议院少数党党鞭凯瑟琳·克拉克，众议院民主党二号人物，在x。
参议院司法委员会的资深成员、民主党参议员迪克·德宾称之为“虚荣项目”
“由于特朗普总统失败的政策，美国人正在努力实现收支平衡，而共和党人则专注于为总统的虚荣舞厅项目和残酷的大规模驱逐运动提供数百亿美元，”德宾在一份声明中说。“共和党人有可能在11月失去对国会的控制，因此他们将在通常的两党拨款程序之外为这些不受欢迎的政策提供资金，直到特朗普政府结束。”
Trump defends $400M price tag for White House ballroom construction project
President Donald Trump on Wednesday defended the cost increase of his massive White House ballroom construction project, the price tag of which has jumped from $200 million to nearly $400 million.
"The only reason the cost has changed is because, after deep rooted studies, it is approximately twice the size, and a far higher quality, than the original proposal,which would not have been adequate to handle the necessary events, meetings, and even future Inaugurations,"Trumpwrote in a post to his social media platform.
"The original price was 200 Million Dollars, the double sized, highest quality completed project will be something less than 400 Million Dollars. It will be magnificent, safe, and secure!" the president added.
Trump's defense comes after hisrelentless criticism of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell'soversight of a multi-billion-dollar renovation of the central bank's headquarters in Washington, D.C. The cost of the Fed renovation increased, which the central bank said was due to rising costs of labor and material as well as unforeseen damage to the property.
The White House previously said it aimed to raise the $400 million through private donations, and Trump himself repeatedly promised no taxpayer money would be used to build the ballroom.
"Sowe did this,nochargetothetaxpayerwhatsoever," Trump said about the ballroom in February. "This was all donations made by friends of mine and people that are -- that love our country."
But now, Republicans in Congressare proposing $1 billionfor security-related aspects of the construction project.
On Tuesday, Senate Republicans said that they are aiming to secure $1 billion in funding for the Secret Service for security-related aspectsof theEastWing renovation, including the ballroom project, as part of a broader funding package for immigration enforcement.
Trump's social media post on Wednesday defending the higher costs made no mention of the proposed $1 billion infusion from Congress.
It's unclear exactly how the Secret Service would spend the money -- and the public may never know given that much of the agency's spending related to White House security is classified.
But in federal court and in the president's own social media posts, the administration has offered some examples of the securityfeatures that Trump has in mind.
In a filing in the ballroom lawsuit last month, the Justice Department saidthe protective enhancements to the East Wing project would include "missile resistant steel columns, Military-grade venting, drone-proof ceilings and bullet, ballistic, and blast proof glass," all aimed at forming a "fortified structural buffer"on the east side of thecomplex that would gird not only the ballroom, but also the main White House residence and the offices in the West Wing.
That April 27 filing also said the upgrades would include "bomb shelters, a state of the art hospital and medical facilities, Top Secret military installations, structures, and equipment, protective partitioning, and other features."
Welcoming the proposed help from Republican lawmakers, aWhite House spokesman said on Monday that they "rightly recognized the need for these funds."
Several Democrats criticized the Republican plan to allocate $1 billion toward the project.
"Donald Trump promised that ZERO taxpayer dollars will be used for his ballroom. He lied," House Minority Whip Katherine Clark, the No. 2 House Democrat, wrote on X.
Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin, the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, called it a "vanity project."
"While Americans are struggling to make ends meet as a result of President Trump’s failed policies, Republicans are focused on providing tens of billions of dollars for the President’s vanity ballroom project and cruel mass deportation campaign," Durbin said in a statement. "Republicans are in danger of losing control of Congress in November, so they are going outside the usual bipartisan appropriations process to fund these unpopular policies through the end of the Trump Administration."
