President Donald Trump has escalated his campaign for a new White House ballroom, flooding his Truth Social platform with posts supporting the project. On Monday, he shared a clip of MAGA pundit Jack Posobiec promoting the annex on Fox News twice, along with at least eight posts featuring screenshots of comments from conservative figures backing the ballroom.
The screenshots compiled 42 endorsements from Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, Republican senators Rand Paul, Katie Britt, Rick Scott, and Marsha Blackburn, rebel Democrat John Fetterman, GOP representatives Lauren Boebert and Randy Fine, and right-leaning influencers like Libs of TikTok. All demanded the completion of the function room.
Construction has been halted since U.S. District Judge Richard Leon sided with the National Trust for Historic Preservation in a lawsuit last month, ruling that work cannot proceed without congressional authorization. The trust has faced pressure from the Department of Justice to drop the suit after the attack on the White House Correspondents' Dinner on April 25 but has refused. President and CEO Carol Quillen stated, 'We are not planning to voluntarily dismiss our lawsuit, which endangers no one and which respectfully asks the administration to follow the law.'
The ballroom's $400 million cost was initially to be funded by wealthy private donors, but new legislation proposed by GOP senators led by Lindsey Graham would shift the expense to taxpayers. Trump insists the ballroom is necessary for hosting state occasions, having demolished the East Wing offices of the first lady last year to make way. However, public support is low: a Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll found only 28% in favour, with 56% opposed and 16% unsure.
Trump's other posts addressed Iran's aggression towards his Project Freedom initiative, wished Rudy Giuliani a swift recovery from pneumonia, and shared a meme of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell being thrown into a skip. He also revisited old topics, posting praise for his February 24 State of the Union address and denying a story by ABC News correspondent Jonathan Karl.
