President Donald Trump funneled nearly $1 billion for a White House overhaul through a little-known maintenance account, including $70 million with no identified source, confidential records show.
The Washington Post, reviewing confidential contracts and planning documents, found the administration plans to spend at least $927 million on construction projects on the White House grounds — with a gilded East Wing ballroom at the center of the overhaul.
The money has been directed to an account called “White House Repair and Restoration,” which Congress typically fills with $2.5 million a year for routine upkeep, The Post reported.
One finding stands out — $70 million was directed to that account, but the records do not identify its source, The Post reported.
“That is incredibly unusual,” said Cerin Lindgrensavage, counsel for Protect Democracy, a watchdog group suing the administration over federal spending disclosures.
According to The Post, the administration has so far directed $875 million into that account — less than the $927 million total it plans to spend — drawing from three streams.
The White House budget office authorized $500 million in transfers from the U.S. Secret Service and the White House Military Office, planning documents show.
Private donations account for another $305 million, The Post reported.
Much of the Secret Service money was originally appropriated by Congress to recruit and train agents, The Post previously reported.
Those private donations also come with transparency problems — the administration kept the ballroom’s funding contract secret from the public until Public Citizen, a government watchdog organization, sued for the contract and a federal judge ordered it released, The Post reported.
Under that contract, donors with billions of dollars in federal business — including Amazon, Lockheed Martin and Google — can contribute anonymously, with no conflict-of-interest review of the White House itself, according to The Post.
“There’s only one good explanation for why Trump’s ultra-wealthy ballroom donors want to stay anonymous: They have something to hide,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) told The Post.
A federal appeals court ruled last week that Trump had exceeded his authority by proceeding without congressional approval, CBS News reported.
Trump wrote on Truth Social that he would immediately appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court.
“Whether or not a massive ballroom should be constructed is for Congress to decide and is not a matter for Executive self-help,” the court wrote.
“If the executive can do anything they want with appropriated funds, then the executive can do anything they want, period,” said Joe Carlile, who served as an associate director of the Office of Management and Budget under President Joe Biden.
The White House did not answer questions about the source of all the funding or the total cost of the planned work, The Post reported.
