Pedro-Gio-Metro

BREAKING: Democrats DEMAND to see the books on Trump’s White House construction spree as costs explode to staggering $927 MILLION! Donald Trump's grandiose attempt to put a permanent stamp on the White House according to his personal tastes is approaching a staggering new milestone: a near billion-dollar price tag. Now Senate Democrats want to know exactly where all that money is coming from. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and other leading Democrats are demanding a GAO audit after new reporting revealed that Trump's growing collection of White House construction projects is expected to cost at least $927 million. That's nearly a billion dollars to demolish the historic East Wing, build the gigantic, grotesque ballroom and underground bunker, pave the Rose Garden, install a South Lawn helipad and carry out other construction and security work around the White House complex. And despite Trump's repeated promises that private donors would pay for his prized ballroom, American taxpayers are picking up a substantial portion of the tab. More than $500 million has reportedly been funneled from the Secret Service and White House Military Office into a new “White House Repair and Restoration” account. Private donations account for roughly $305 million, while another $70 million reportedly came from a mysterious source that has never been publicly identified. Sen. Jeff Merkley, the ranking Democrat on the Budget Committee, said the administration has failed to provide Congress with “planning details or justifications” necessary to determine whether the spending should have been authorized in the first place. Meanwhile, a federal appeals court ordered work on Trump's ballroom halted Friday, ruling that “whether or not a massive ballroom should be constructed is for Congress to decide and is not a matter for Executive self-help.” The ballroom alone is now estimated to cost roughly $600 million, triple Trump's original $200 million estimate. More than half could ultimately be borne by taxpayers as White House “security enhancements,” according to contractor estimates obtained by WaPo. “Thanks to the Builder-in-Chief, the White House will be properly glorified and remain in excellent condition for generations to come,” White House spokesperson Davis Ingle declared, arguing that the East Wing project is inseparable from presidential security needs. But that's increasingly difficult to reconcile with Trump's original promise that his ballroom would be a “gift to the country” paid for by private largess. The ballroom has tripled in cost. More than half a billion dollars has been redirected from the Secret Service and White House Military Office, and another $70 million arrived from a source the White House hasn't publicly identified. Trump spent his career putting up buildings with other people's money, attaching his name to them and selling the spectacle as evidence of his own greatness. Now he's working the same formula with the federal government of the United States, and remarkably few people have managed to stop him. Trump Tower was his to remodel however his gaudy tastes desired. The White House isn't. He has no business spending nearly $1 billion messing up the people's house, demolishing historic architecture and building himself a tacky ballroom three times more expensive than he advertised. Congress has every reason to open the books, right now. Because at some point “Who is paying for this?” becomes inseparable from an even more troubling question: Who exactly is Donald Trump building all of this for?