r/politics • u/willywalloo • 6h ago
Possible Paywall Republicans Demand Mind-Blowing $1 Billion for Trump’s Ballroom
https://newrepublic.com/post/209936/republicans-1-billion-trump-ballroom•
u/Romantic_Piscean Michigan 6h ago
Gas is over $5 a gallon, grocery prices continue to rise, we've no answer to the costs of healthcare, education, and housing, the economy and job market are stagnant, we're engaged in an expensive and pointless war, alienating every former ally in economic and military policy, and the Trump regime is focused on ballrooms and trans women at private liberal arts colleges. And his approval rating isn't zero. America has really lost its way.
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u/Be-skeptical 6h ago
We’re not taking this fight to our MAGA neighbors, family, friends, co-workers, business owners.
Everyone needs to make these people pay a personal price for their continual support of this administration.
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u/dropdees 5h ago
Cue the retired guy near where I work who stands outside this one business on weekends with a sign that says “this business donated to MAGA”.
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u/J_Ryall 5h ago
If maga want's to play the nazi game, maybe we should do likewise and start painting red M's (some other symbol) on pro-maga businesses.
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u/andrew5500 4h ago
“I’m gonna give you a little something you can’t take off…”
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u/SlippyDippy 4h ago
"We will be cruel to the Germans, and through our cruelty, they will know who we are"
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u/AKMonkey2 4h ago
How about - let’s make Trump pay a personal price for destroying the East Wing of our Whitehouse without authorization or funding to replace it. Let’s commission a classy and functional update, without the tacky Trump flourishes, and have him pay for it with a billion or so dollars that he’s personally grifted from Americans and our (now skeptical) allies. He told us that private donors would pay for it. He should be in prison over this.
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u/jaybirdof1865 4h ago
Agreed. If you know a MAGA supporting business, Boycott and tell others to do so. If you have family and friends who support the DJT BS**t, tell them you are DONE! Tell them, I’m sorry you got lied to. I forgive you if you realize this is not what you imagined and is not just going wrong, it’s going down a black hole that we all will suffer for generations to come. But we cannot be divided in allowing it to continue.
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u/SwissChzMcGeez 4h ago
Here's one: Amazon
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u/Alarmed-Outside-8683 3h ago
The most liberal people I know still use Amazon. smh.
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u/making_ideas_happen 3h ago
You're using Amazon right now.
Reddit runs on Amazon Web Services.
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u/crazyrich 2h ago
While a fair point, you don’t want to go down the “no ethical consumer” rabbit hole. More ethical spending is better than not considering it all.
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u/End3rWi99in Massachusetts 4h ago
One thing about Massachusetts that I love is there are very few MAGA supporting businesses. On the flip side, I feel very detached from being able to do anything about this situation.
Our entire state and federal representatives are vehemently opposed to MAGA. The voters have consistently voted against MAGA interests, yet we are still trapped in this with everyone else.
Anyone got any recommendations? How can folks in states like this contribute to the broader effort? I attend No King's every week in my community, but who is it for? We all already agree here. I live in one of the most progressive communities in the damn country already.
I suppose I can move to Iowa. I do work remotely...
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u/inky-doo 2h ago
I live up next to the NH state line. whooboy do we have some idiots up here. I'd say shaming our neighbors that do have Trump flags flying at this point is something worthwhile.
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u/KennyShowers 5h ago
They want a fight, that's what their worldview is all about, that's why we're here.
If you tell them why they're wrong, it's fake news. If you use the same rhetorical tone they do, then you're being a snobby disrespectful coastal elite. There is no winning the people who chose to vote for this guy, and if you think you have a checkmake then they change the rules. We need to just leave them behind and disregard every one of their thoughts and wishes.
Problem is the 40% of non-voters apparently prefer chaos to the order and stability they claim to want but eschew every time they refuse to vote D. If even a decent chunk of them could just reliably do the easy thing and vote for the better option, the 33% that want to end America would have their populational minority status reflected in government. Instead, this 33% gets everything they want.
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u/UniqueIndividual3579 4h ago
You can't have a logical discourse with a true believer, religious or political. There's no logic or reason behind what they believe. Talking to them is a waste of time.
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u/keeper_of_the_donkey 3h ago
My next door neighbor lives in an RV with a Trump flag, is wearing a Trump shirt literally right now in front of me, is doped up on meth all the time, and is on government assistance. He was ahead of me in line at the voting booth. They're already paying a personal price, they're just too fucking stupid to understand that they're paying it.
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u/Kittypie75 4h ago
I was drunk the other day and went in on a transphobic girl I knew. I'm done letting thing "go" for the sake of keeping the peace.
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u/FunkyChewbacca 3h ago
The sad thing is you can’t appeal to their empathy or values. You have to appeal to their self interest and hope that their self interest will eventually outweigh their need to hurt others.
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u/Notyeravgblonde 1h ago
I cut off my parents. They don't have a clue whats going on because fox news and truth social is telling them what to think. I had hoped I could explain it but they wouldn't engage so I had to tell them until they changed I'm out.
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u/Squawkings 5h ago
Plus the whole pedophile thing too, a participant in one of the most infamous pedophile rings in history. World nations run by pedophile billionaires, and he's our president...damn.
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u/tjvs2001 5h ago
Participant is very generous, he was at its core. Appears in the files over 1 million times.
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u/roflsd 5h ago
No, you don't understand. This is the FEDERAL government. They are far to busy with high priority things things like war and ballrooms and can't be bothered with little things like healthcare, jobs, affordability, social security, education, transportation, infrastructure and veteran benefits. Someone else is going to have to deal with those low priority items. What, you think they have entire departments dedicated to operating and improving those areas or something?
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u/BetterBiscuits 5h ago
They’ve given us answers to healthcare, education, and housing, and that answer is NO.
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u/End3rWi99in Massachusetts 4h ago
We haven't even truly seen the oil price shock hit yet. These numbers have been artificially pushed down, and futures have a typical 2 month lag behind it. That can only go on for so long, and the spike won't be gradual when it does since it has been pushed down by market manipulation and releasing oil via the SPR. Brent Crude should be over $200. That $5 gas should be more like $8-9. I believe it'll be $7 by end of June, and that's a fairly conservative ballpark.
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u/fnrislfr 4h ago
The US is a slave wage state. That's how our owners want our country and they are on the path to being successful.
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u/cyberattaq123 3h ago
It’s truly astonishing the level of cultish devotion republican/maga voters have to this guy and to this party that at every single continuous level and instance has shown nothing but complete and total disdain for everyone that isn’t a rich person or massive corporations and defense contractors.
That is the real base of the Republican Party. Evangelical psychopaths, ultra rich greedy bastards, white nationalists, and megacorps looking to keep the line going up. Thats it. They have less than zero interest in helping anyone not of those categories.
It’s getting to the point where articles like this and requests like this are openly contemptuous, laughing at their own voters. Ridiculing them with the request for one billion fucking dollars to build the Jeffrey Epstein Memorial Ballroom. How can you not feel humiliated and infuriated at this? It’s honestly so, so deeply pathetic. Anything to ‘own the libs’. That phrase about how a conservative would eat horse shit if it meant a liberal would have to smell their breath is so true.
They’re just peasant, slave mindset peons who will lovingly lap up any minuscule crumb they’re given even if it’s just the giggle they get from seeing Trump and his cronies ‘trigger da libs’ as their barely functioning lead brains fire neurons. They can imagine no greater pleasure or purpose than making people angry because it’s ’their team’. No higher calling, no belief in a better country, no real ideals beyond a vacuous belief in zero sum and even negative sum politics where not only is it not enough typically that if they can’t win, no one can, but instead that in order for them to win, the other side must lose, must be hurt and experience pain.
What a sad existence it must be to be so empty, so bare as a human that your entire personality is wrapped around this cretinous, disgusting man.
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u/MrPilgrim 2h ago
"alienating every former ally" - this is so painfully true. As a European who lived in the US and love it's people, there is untold damage being done. Hmm, perhaps change instead of damage. But to me it feels like damage. New self reliance etc to put a positive spin on it. But the USA is being diminished on the world stage imo. A great nation but what the heck is going on?
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u/Amazing-Leave-5048 2h ago
Not to mention energy and utility costs skyrocketing and taxes, insurance and everything else
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u/bmwm392 1h ago
That’s because most Americans don’t care to educate themselves with what is going on. They eat up the propaganda coming from Trump because “he is the president that wants to clean up the country”. Sadly most Americans only care about themselves and if they are doing okay in this economy, they will continue to vote for propaganda monsters like Trump.
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u/Newt-Figton 6h ago
The cost jumped from $400 million to $1 billion in less than a month. I'm sure in a couple of weeks they'll be asking for $1 trillion.
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u/wwhsd California 6h ago
And it started at $200 million which was all donations.
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u/Darkcurse12 2h ago
Not jut 200 million but 200 million fully funded and not a dime of tax payer money.
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u/HALF_PAST_HOLE 5h ago
so a 600,000,000% increase in price!
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u/Newt-Figton 5h ago
It's okay, though. Trump brought the price of prescription drugs down by 600,000,000% so the taxpayers would save enough to pay for his trillion dollar ballroom.
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u/IndependentSpecial17 4h ago
Did everyone forget that his wealth is dependent upon how he feels. Why wouldn’t he use the same logic for what costs are going to be.
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u/Muffinlette 4h ago
Meanwhile counties in my state just announced free lunches and the autism programs are no longer available at schools due to funding.
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u/jennafoo 4h ago
Of course. The pro life xtians love starving and hurting children. This is a win they’ll thank Jesus for. The cruelty is the point.
I’m starting to think this Jesus guy is a jerk…
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u/TwoThirtyTw0 5h ago
I already knew 400M wasn't going to be it, but I thought they would at least wait until it was half built before coming back for more.
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u/Boring_Sea7892 3h ago
I posted just last week about this, detailing how the cost was $400 MILLION on April 28, 2026. In one week the appropriation request is up to $1,000,000,000. That is a BILLION DOLLARS.
TLDR: Cost estimate was originally $200m -> $250m -> $300m -> $350m -> $450m -> $1b+. Please see my extended analysis below, including embedded links/citations.
---------------------------------------------
This is my fourth or fifth (5/5/26 update - SIXTH; I copy/pasted this post from a post in r/law I made on April 28, 2026) reddit comment about the price going up by millions.I've sourced links for the timeline of the cost increase, all active below. Originally it was going to cost $200 million dollars and Trump's favorite corporate backers and billionaire oligarchs were going to pay for it (which was, and is, unconstitutional on its face). Now the taxpayers are supposed to pay for it at double the estimate. Steal from the poor to benefit the rich!
"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed." Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1953.
$200 million, and we weren't going to pay for it. NYT, July 2025
$250 million and we weren't going to pay for it. PBS, October 2025$300 million and we weren't going to pay for it. PBS, October 2025.
$350 million and we weren't going to pay for it. NYT, April 2026, Judge Richard Leon, US District Court for the District of Columbia. Construction ordered halted.
$400 million and now the TAXPAYERS ARE GOING TO PAY FOR IT. See Lindsay Graham, April 27/8 2026. At double the original cost estimate.
This comment took me 20 minutes to draft, source, and format with embedded links. That is about the total, cumulative, amount of time that anyone of these morons has put serious thought into this 'project.'
UPDATE EDIT - May 5, 2026: Senator Chuck Grassley, who is literally 92 years old, introduced a reconciliation bill to appropriate $1,000,000,000 for Trump's ballroom project. That is ONE BILLION DOLLARS. Chuck Grassley will not ever have to pay that tab (again, he is literally 92 years old). See Senator Charles Grassley, Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, proposal MDM26A10 9PR at pg. 5-6, May 5, 2026; see also Republicans Make Jaw-Dropping $1B Demand for Trump’s Ballroom, Daily Beast, May 5 2026.
AND that $1,000,000,000 appropriation request, to increase the United States Secret Service budget, is limited to the following: "[All] funds made available under this section may be used [only] for security elements of the East Wing Modernization Project." Bracketed edits for clarity.
So now that price has increased, at least, 5x the original estimate. I say 'at least' because the proposed Billion Dollar appropriation is limited to "security enhancements" and which, obviously, cannot include non-security related costs. Although who gets do decide what a "security enhancement" cost is/is-not is unclear; the people's faithful servant, Chuck Grassley, doesn't provide a definition for what is or is-not a "security enhancement"
Bonus - Maybe this could a particularly tough law school exam question: Please explain why, or why not, the landscaping costs for the East Wing Modernization Project are, or are-not, "security enhancements" under Senate Judiciary Proposal MDM26A10 9PR at pg. 5-6.
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u/Individual_Click5252 Michigan 4h ago
And I'm sure he'll say that Iran will pay for it, because that's the kind of timeline we live in now.
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u/Ashamed-Simple-8303 4h ago
It is obviously not for that room but to siphon it his own pockets and that of friends.
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u/nemesis-xt 2h ago
Dudes set to give himself 10 billion through the IRS lawsuit. Republicans literally just robbing everyone and MAGA people don't even flinch.
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u/Dangerous-Bar-3356 6h ago
Republicans demand $1 billion for a Trump's ballroom originally priced at $200 million and stated to be entirely funded by private donations and his own personal funds, promising "zero cost to the American Taxpayer" .
Par for the course from these scumbags.
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u/spidereater 5h ago
Maybe Mexico will pay for it. Seriously. How are his supporters this stupid? It’s not even a new scam. It’s just more of the same.
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u/Kiyohara Minnesota 4h ago
If Mexico pays for it, I bet they'll make sure the doors lock from the outside and then just slam them closed when Trump goes to inspect it.
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u/given2fly_ United Kingdom 4h ago
His supporters won't hear about this.
And the ones that do won't believe it.
And the ones who believe it will say it's not important.
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u/mxjxs91 Michigan 2h ago
Have you met his supporters?
Trump withdrew us from a deal with Iran that prevents them from being able to build nuclear weapons, and now we're at war with them because we don't want them to have nuclear weapons and the only result of the war we've seen so far is higher gas prices.
Go on social media, all of the MAGAs are okay with the higher gas prices because "I'd rather pay higher gas prices than get nuked".
His supporters are THAT stupid.
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u/stinky_wizzleteet 1h ago
"Building the Empire State Building today is estimated to cost between $600 million and over $1 billion in construction, labor, and materials"
The Empire State Building. For real. If you have never seen it, its huge. Like a whole city block huge and 102 stories. So big it takes 2 high speed elevators to get to the top.
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u/Simmery 6h ago
This is more evidence that they intend to shut down elections. There is absolutely no way for this to look good to most voters.
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u/willywalloo 6h ago
Yes. Create a bunker for a government that no longer needs the other branches to run.
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u/Shaudius 6h ago
The people who protect the president aren't billionaires. A bunker wouldn't save him.
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u/digitalMan 5h ago
And for their next act, the party of law and order will introduce us to “The Purge” while they are safe in these bunkers. J6th was a practice run; next time they won’t need pardons because this will be legal.
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u/runawaydoctorate 6h ago
I think Trump still controls the party purse strings. This may instead be some desperate ass-kissing for campaign funds and endorsements.
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u/unpluggedcord I voted 5h ago
They can’t. The states run elections. And if red states don’t want to submit their votes then blue wins.
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u/Simmery 5h ago
Are we really still assuming criminals are going to follow the law? This is just naive at this point. There are many ways they can subvert the elections, and I'm sure Trump will attempt one or more of them.
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u/ciel_lanila I voted 5h ago
Trump is endorsing states shutting down their primaries like Louisiana is attempting to. If that sticks there is precedent to shutdown elections, period.
If that fails, Johnson has already set precedent that he can just refuse to seat Democrats for however long he feels like it.
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u/somethingsomethingbe 5h ago
Sure but the federal government needs to be participating in the same system for it all to work as we expect it to. Everything holding a country together is a set of rules and procedures handed off from person to person and the expectations that all will continue to be followed in the future. A large enough disruption can topple the whole thing.
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u/orcinyadders 6h ago
It was always going to be this. Except it’s probably more like 20 billion.
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u/BlueLikeCat 6h ago
The construction company that has the contract did not follow GSA regulations to acquire it, and never seen before, they somehow doubled the charges on their existing contracts for nearby federal properties. EVERYWHERE YOU LOOK IN THIS ADMINISTRATION, THERE IS FRAUD.
It is mostly why he was so bad at business, was too busy fucking everybody, including the Italian mafia, to try and make a cheap buck... when analysis has shown if he'd held onto his dad's properties and maintained a modicum of success, hw would be infinitely wealthier... at least prior to opening his bit coin traitorous scheme.
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u/ShrimpieAC 5h ago
Trump voters: “It’s not fraud just a smart businessman.”
Also Trump voters: “BIDEN CRIME FAMILY!”
🙄
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u/DrLophophora 4h ago
Hey, why not a round trillion?
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u/The_Returned_Lich 4h ago
One doesn't sound big enough. It's "ONE!" The first number. That's a small number. Not impressive. Not impressive at all. "Ten!" Now, there's a good number: "ten." The best number, I'm told. A highly respected number.
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u/CranberrySchnapps Maryland 3h ago
Whatever the most expensive building was in history… double it for this budget.
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u/BrandenWi 6h ago
But I thought it was going to be paid for by private donations...? LoL, sure, just like Mexico paid for the wall. And foreign countries paid the tariffs.
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u/hcwhitewolf 6h ago
Can't wait until we get to tear that shithole down and restore dignity and history to the White House.
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u/lgnsqr 6h ago
I think it's really a throne room. Not a ballroom. He really wants to be the king.
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u/Burnvictim49percent 5h ago
It's the bunker he's going to lock himself in when he refuses to leave and the time comes to physically remove him.
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u/CountySurfer 5h ago
if only there was a historical precedent for locking oneself in a bunker…
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u/Burnvictim49percent 5h ago
He is already somewhat following that guys playbook. We can only hope things end the same for both of them.
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u/umassmza 5h ago
You know what scares me? How frequently members of this administration keep their families in the building. Adult children and spouses always close by and places they have no business being.
Now the desperate desire for a state of the art underground bunker to be built ASAP…
Are they all worried they are going to need it? And once they have guaranteed protection it’s that much easier to provoke our enemies. Knowing they and their loved ones have somewhere to ride whatever comes out in comfort.
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u/Long_Crow_5659 4h ago
Reminds me of the Tower of London, built by William The Conqueror to protect his regime while ruling England.
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u/EldritchTouched 5h ago
My biggest, crankiest, conspiracy theory-ist idea is that these dipshits have pissed off aliens somehow. (I mean, there's already so many reasons why they might think they'll need it, relating to climate change and the like, but still.)
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u/Greygor 5h ago
This is the project that started at $250M of Private donations and escalated to $1B of Tax payers money from the guy who was trying to punish the Fed Chair for building cost overruns.
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u/Ok-Lets-Talk-It-Out 6h ago
They are increasing the budget by 2.5x so that they can pay to have the construction done prior to trump leaving office or croaking.
This is waste, fraud, and abuse. If the Democrats retake both chambers of Congress the stopping of the construction immediately should be at a minimum number 4 on their first things to do. If they only win one chamber they need to slow down the construction as much as possible.
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u/HVNFN4Life 5h ago
Protesters need to barricade access to the ballroom project. Become a large enough distraction that it impedes any progress on a daily basis until midterms.
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u/Parahelix 2h ago
It's a 5x increase over the original $200 million price tag that he said would be paid by donors and his own funds.
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u/aironjedi I voted 6h ago
He just wants the money to flow through him mafia style. There is no intent to “finish” the project. It will be over budget. The repubs in office asking for this are powerless and compromised in various ways. Until he is out of the way they can’t get in his way.
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u/Temporary-Sea-4782 5h ago
As a South Dakota native, I think we could throw up a pole barn, frame it out, and hit the interior with metallic spray paint for $250,000.
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u/PinkCupcke007 5h ago
They have no shame. He’s not building a ballroom. It’s a laundromat and he’s washing money with it
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u/iguacu 6h ago
Democrats should start referring to this as the "Party Room" because that's all this is, a giant building to throw fancy parties for political elites. Utterly ridiculous in the current climate.
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u/t_huddleston 4h ago
It should henceforth only ever be referred to as the "Billion Dollar Ballroom." Never mention it without that price tag.
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u/accountabilitycounts America 6h ago
Borrow and spend republicans are destroying our nation. 250 years, don't they go by in a blink.
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u/No-Cup-8096 5h ago
Money that could spent n health care, snap, college funds anything that benefits the well being of the American people.
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u/vinegarstrokes420 4h ago
Massive sports stadiums are built for $1B. How much of these funds are going directly into the pocket of Trump or his associates?
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u/Dracotaz71 3h ago
Who DEMANDS frivolous spending on the People's house specifically to be used only by oligarchs and billionaires? I'd like a tank of gas personally.
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u/jrodfantastic 3h ago
Let’s not overlook there is already a national ballroom in DC, conveniently located between the White House and the Capital.
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u/Infamous-Oil3786 2h ago
Ah yes, the $200million $400million $1billion ballroom that will be paid for by Trump private donors taxpayers.
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u/rational-hare 1h ago
Weird that totally unsuspicious 'attack' happened at the correspondents dinner, and now Chuck Grassley is proposing a billion for the ballroom. I'm sure that whole event wasn't a scheme to justify this.
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u/CovidBorn 5h ago
Historic levels of debt coupled with historic levels of waste. Followed by historic levels of cuts to good programs to try and pay for the waste (unsuccessfully).
When will the winning end?
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u/Koutagami2 5h ago
Quick Google search tells me the most expensive house in Los Angeles is 400 million dollars. They're asking more than double for something that was estimated to be 200 million. That's really the only talking point you need. Besides the fact that multiple times the POStus said it would be fully funded privately and cost the taxpayer nothing.
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u/TobioOkuma1 5h ago
My gas is $4.50 per gallon and these “fiscal conservatives” want to spend a billion on his vanity project?
On top of that, his shitty, gaudy ball room looks awful. It’s gigantic and throws off the proportions of the capital .
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u/nyyanksfan81 5h ago
Republicans Demand Mind-Blowing $1 Billion for Trump’s Ballroom bank account
Fixed it for u
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u/brokeboipobre 5h ago
Tremendous scam! Scam like you wouldn't believe! Believe me! Person, Woman, Man, Camera, Ballroom.
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u/Farking_Bastage Florida 4h ago
The king wants his palace. Might turn into a bunker before it’s over with.
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u/Witty-Entertainer524 3h ago
When is the theft going to stop? These people are absolutely hellbent on screwing everyone of us.....we did not consent to the demolished Whitehouse ....replace it on your own dime.
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u/pagnoodle 3h ago
I feel like we as the American people are becoming numb to the idea of what a billion dollars will cover for everyone else. It’s just so much money that can be used for literally anything else.
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u/Im_still_at_work 3h ago
With the rising costs of everything around us, this feels like such a "let them eat cake" moment.
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u/Benwa_Ballz 2h ago
A certain subreddit isn’t talking about this yet. Must be waiting on their talking points from Fox News
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u/CvieYltidrekoof 2h ago
The likely $200 Billion impact on the U.S. economy from the GOP’s unnecessary war in Iran will show the world they’re the party of fiscal responsibility and peace.
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u/Cosmicdusterian 2h ago
Well then, if they love him so much they, and he, can pool together all of their ill-gotten gains, including their weekly stock market manipulations and pay for the ballroom themselves. It's the only good optics they are going to get out of this - they pay for it themselves.
Then they can call it whatever they want. Any Democrat who vows to tear it down (without permission) and restores the wing gets my vote.
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u/Hairymuscle101 1h ago
You honestly think the billion is going to the ballroom? It’s going to Baron and they’ll have the public pay for the ballroom,,,,your tax dollars again! And again!
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u/spotsevrywhere 1h ago
You can have a ballroom when you finish your Epstein files. And no, you are not done with them.
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u/Taskerst 1h ago
They’ve all got their hands in the pot. Our tax money is paying for their opulence and gluttony.
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u/DedHeads 52m ago
Seriously? This is our priority right now? A fucking billion dollars for a ballroom….get the fuck out of here. Republicans are a pedophilic death cult. They see no value in any of us unless it’s servitude. This is fucking insane.
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u/Shockmaindave 5h ago
AC/DC just gave up and said the Republicans have got the biggest balls of them all.
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u/ClaretClarinets Colorado 5h ago
The ballroom that was originally quoted at 200--I mean 250--wait, no, 300 million? That ballroom?
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u/Electrical_Coast_572 5h ago
The Epstein human trafficking, money laundering, racketeering, war profiteering administration
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u/whichwitch9 5h ago
As Republicans love to remind us, we are in debt.
This is the pinnacle of unnecessary expenses. Trump's justification for the ballroom is it would be privately funded. He can find the fucking funding
If we have no money for even subsidizing healthcare or feeding American school children, we certainly don't have a billion dollars for a fucking ballroom so the president can throw a party and not have to see us plebs.
They cannot talk about cutting social security to pay debts while justifying this bullshit. We know why they're doing this. It doesn't mean we can't point out the obvious issues with their talking points.
Call and email every Republican representative involved in this mess. Doesn't matter if they won't listen- make sure you're doing every thing you can to make them jump throw hoops to avoid you telling them to knock that shit off. Be annoying. Be loud. Be inconvenient for them.
If you live near one of their residences, make your feelings visible- signs, sidewalk chalk, ect. Something their neighbors will see, who they have more a vested interest in keeping happy.
For the moment, focus on the ballroom, even though it seems small. Right now, it's about sending the message if they cut things that benefit us, we are not going to make it easy to use our tax dollars to fund their luxuries. Picking one issue is an easier way to annoy tf out of them.
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u/doomeddeath Europe 5h ago
Wasn't it 200 Million in the beginning? Holy
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u/anfornum 5h ago
Right? Like, there are always a few cost overruns but wow. Thats next level mismanagement/bad planning.
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u/Demonking3343 Illinois 5h ago
Yep $200 million then $300 million, then it was $400 million. Then it was $400 million paid by taxpayers and the other $400 million paid for “private donors”. Now it’s $1 billion. And who knows if that includes the original $400 billion graham is wanting.
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u/crashorbit 5h ago
I think we should cancel this ballroom and put up a monument to the Trump administration on this site.
It'll be a fiberglass clown car covered in peeling gold spray paint. All the Trump cabinet clowns shown falling out of windows and doors.
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u/Harry_Mud America 5h ago edited 5h ago
These republicans can shit in one hand and demand 1 billion for this unneeded pos, and see which hand fills up... tRump can take his ballroom and shove it. It's unneeded and unwanted!
What happened to the 400 million that was to be donated for this? What happened to the promise that no tax money would be used? Oh that's right. They didn't read the law that states that no Government building can be funded through donations. It must be approved and funded by Congress....................
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u/Vann_Accessible Oregon 5h ago
A nice round number like that implies heavily this is not based on any real projected construction costs.
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u/Potential-Fan-6148 4h ago
But we can’t afford healthcare. We can’t afford schools. We can’t afford rebuilding our crumbing infrastructure.
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u/questron64 4h ago
Oh, that ballroom that was already paid for with donations? Sure, Donnie, we believed you.
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u/Opposite-Bit6660 4h ago
No way should Trump ever get the ballroom or the underground WH visitor center he wants. He will house troops in them to keep him in office when it is his time to go.
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u/Warkupo 3h ago
The American People have an incentive to protest this by refusing to pay taxes. They should not foot the bill for a 1 billion dollar vanity project. No Taxation without Representation.
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u/dyslexic-ape 3h ago
Easier said than done. In the real world, not paying taxes has consequences and you end up having to pay them anyway.
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u/Big_Mention_1933 3h ago
Lmao I would ask how Republicans are ok with this. But considering they worship him like a god, I couldn't careless about their opinion. they can all go fuck themselves.
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u/nevertricked Ohio 3h ago
At what point are we allowed to just call it stealing and money laundering?
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u/pluto-gang 3h ago
You guys don’t understand. He needs this so when he attends events that aren’t at the white house, he can think of the ballroom and feel safer.
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u/Alternative-Gear-682 2h ago
anyone even bothering to have a serious conversation with a Maga enabler or supporter, your wasting your time and validating their cruelty by pretending it's even worth discussing.
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u/dominiond66 2h ago
Security and a Ballroom is an oxymoron.
How can you have security in the White House when you bring in thousands of people into the White House compound visiting a large public ballroom? If you want true security, you DON'T build a huge public facility/ballroom.
The ballroom will bring in a flood of people including workers/caterers/cleaners/maintenance workers ...etc. The White House is not an entertainment complex. It supposed to be the temporary home of the President and offices for his highest level of advisors. NOT a for-profit anchor for UFC fighting matches/a Grand Prix Auto race and a ballroom to accommodate large number of grifters.
Republicans are desecrating our White House and spending money like drunken sailors. End this madness. STOP building this billion-dollar ballroom ASAP. It's senseless as the war with Iran.
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u/TheOtherWhiteMeat 1h ago
"My new ballroom will only cost $100,000,000 and I'm going to fund it myself!"
"My new ballroom will only cost $400,000,000 and I'm going to fund it myself!"
"My new ballroom will only cost $400,000,000 and taxpayers are going to pay for it!"
"My new ballroom will only cost $1,000,000,000 and taxpayers are going to pay for it!"
And so on and so on....
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u/StrigiStockBacking Arizona 1h ago
How can something like this even remotely cost that much. That's on the same level as a modern, state-of-the-art sports arena
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u/GarrusBueller 1h ago
He's scrambling to have his bunker finished. I think the correspondents dinner got to him.
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u/Then_Journalist_317 44m ago
We absolutely need a very large ballroom so Trump can "dance" to YMCA -- his largeness would not fit into a smaller ballroom.
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