The cost of President Donald Trump's ballroom addition to the White House has gone up, from its original stated price of $200 million to nearly double that, the president admitted while speaking to reporters on Thursday.
"Have you raised the full $300 million needed to fund your ballroom, and how much specifically are you donating to this construction?" asked a reporter.
"Actually, we raised, I think, $350 million, all donor money, and money that we put up, uh, we've raised, it's going to be, it's going to cost right in the neighborhood of $300 million," said Trump. "It's been expanded and made, absolutely, it'll be the most beautiful ballroom anywhere in the world, I think."
"And how much specifically are you donating to it personally?" reporters followed up.
"How much am I donating? I won't be able to tell you until I finish, but I'll donate whatever is needed. I'll tell you that," said Trump.
The ballroom project, which has already resulted in demolition work on parts of the East Wing despite previous promises it would not alter any existing structure, has triggered outrage from observers who fear Trump is reshaping the White House too aggressively in his own image, as well as those angry he is focusing on a vanity project for his own residence at a moment when the federal government is shut down over a standoff about extending health care funding for millions of people.