President Donald Trump spent 30 minutes Wednesday raving about granite at his nearly finished White House helipad, guaranteeing reporters they would "never see a crack" in the stone.
Trump had invited the press not to discuss policy, but to watch him sign his name to the back of a granite slab being carved into a giant eagle's head — the centerpiece of the new helipad's presidential seal.
The back of the slab, the side that will face the ground, already had his name carved into it.
The helipad is a $5 million to $6 million project funded by Sikorsky Aircraft, the Lockheed Martin subsidiary that manufactures the new VH-92A presidential helicopters, according to Time. The new aircraft proved so powerful they shredded the South Lawn during landings, prompting the project.
"And we are building a great heliport," Trump said, before pivoting almost immediately to the stone.
"This granite has a million-year life," he said. "It's a very strong stone. It will never break. It will never leak."
"It's 35,000 pounds per square inch," Trump said of the granite. "If you look at hard concrete, hard concrete is 5,000 pounds. This is 35,000. So nature is stronger than what the human can produce."
"That stone — if you took a hammer and you started hammering right now, all day long, you would not see where you've hit it," he continued. "I don't care how strong you are. You wouldn't see a mark on it, literally," he added. "So in ten years, if you see a crack, you'll say, well, Trump just said you'll never see a crack. You'll never see a crack on this granite. I guess nothing's indestructible, but it's pretty close."
The visit had been planned as a private signing until Trump decided the press should see it.
Workers were carving the eagle's head at the center of the pad. Trump signed the back of the slab — the side that will never be seen once it is set in place, with his name already cut into the stone beneath his signature.
"All of these letters are hand-carved and put into the black stone, which is also about 35,000 pounds per square inch," Trump said of the seal. "These are done by brilliant artists, really."
"Now you could do a much better state arrival," he said of the finished surface. "They can have people go there for cocktails and then walk to the ballroom after that's finished."
Trump said the South Lawn grass was donated by Scotts Miracle-Gro, quoting his groundskeeper Dale — who has worked at the White House for 54 years — as saying grass "has a life like humans have a life."
"A lot of good ingredients in that earth for grass," Trump said. "If you're grass, you're very happy."
He also disclosed that Scotts had contributed to his campaign.
"They actually contributed to my campaign," Trump said. "I must be honest."
He added that he personally donated the flagpoles, declaring he is "very good at flagpoles."
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) wrote on X in July that the project was a "joke," saying Trump "has refused to sign a bipartisan housing bill that would lower costs for working Americans, build more housing, and stop private equity from buying up homes. But he's laser-focused on building a new helipad."
Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) wrote on X that Trump was "charging taxpayers an extra $875,000 just to speed up construction of his private White House helipad."
Trump said he hopes the pad will be done by Sept. 21, in time for a planned visit from Chinese President Xi Jinping.
