Donald Trump's administration has quietly redirected $352 million in federal funds designated for the Secret Service toward the president's controversial White House ballroom project, despite repeated promises by Trump that the construction would be financed by private donations.
Funds Diverted from Secret Service
The funds were drawn from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, Trump's signature tax legislation passed last summer on Republican-only votes. The law stipulates the money may only be spent on Secret Service personnel, training facilities, technology and related costs, not construction.
About $340.8 million of the funding was placed into an account labeled "Procurement, Construction, and Improvements" on 12 June, according to the office of management and budget (OMB) database. Another account labeled "Operations and Support" was also approved the same day, adding another $10.75 million to the budget.
Congressional Refusal
The move came after Congress explicitly refused to provide $1 billion in funds for the "East Wing Modernization Project", the Trump administration's official name for a 90,000-square-foot ballroom being built on the site of the White House's demolished East Wing.
The administration argued the funds were needed for legitimate security upgrades, pointing to recent threats against Trump, including an alleged plot to attack Sunday's UFC Freedom 250 event on the White House south lawn.
"The East Wing Modernization Project is inextricably tied to the security of the president, the White House grounds and the certain security infrastructure assets," White House spokesperson Davis Ingle said. "President Trump and generous American patriots are funding the ballroom to the tune of approximately $400 million, which will be a secure and appropriate venue for presidents for generations to come."
Those disrupted attacks, Ingle said, "proves exactly why" the project is needed for events at the White House, which include "drone-proof structures and drone ports among other critical security enhancements".
Lawmakers Skeptical
Senior legislators were unconvinced. "That's a big problem," Senator Thom Tillis, a Republican from North Carolina who is retiring at the end of the year, told Notus. "That sounds like a different way to fund the East Wing project. On its face it doesn't sound right."
Brian Schatz, a Democratic senator from Hawaii on the appropriations committee, also told the outlet: "I don't know whether it's the ballroom, but it sounds like the ballroom."
Controversy Over Funding
The row is the latest chapter in a widening controversy over who is actually paying for the project. When the ballroom was announced in July 2025 at an estimated cost of $200 million, Trump described it as "a private thing", before the East Wing was destroyed in October.
In late March, with estimates doubling to $400 million, Trump insisted: "This is taxpayer-free. We have no taxpayer putting up 10 cents."
But those assurances have since frayed. Internal records obtained by the Washington Post from Clark Construction, the firm leading the project, show plans calling for $155 million from Secret Service funds, $149 million from the White House military office and $3 million from the executive residence, all of which is public money, alongside private contributions. The Washington Post has reported total costs could reach $600 million.
Private Fundraising Scrutiny
The private fundraising side has drawn its own scrutiny. Watchdogs including the Campaign Legal Center have warned that donations from major corporations such as Meta, Coinbase and Lockheed Martin, all of whom have significant interests before the US federal government, create a substantial risk of corruption.
Construction, meanwhile, remains subject to ongoing legal challenges, after a federal judge ruled in March that the administration had probably exceeded its authority in demolishing the East Wing without congressional approval.
