The Trump administration has redirected more than $350 million in federal money originally designated for the Secret Service to finance the president's contested White House ballroom construction, bypassing congressional refusal to fund the project directly.
The funds came from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, Trump's signature tax legislation passed last summer with Republican votes alone. The law explicitly restricts those dollars to Secret Service personnel, training facilities, technology and related operational costs, not construction projects.
On June 12, the Office of Management and Budget approved two account transfers totaling $350.55 million. One account labeled "Procurement, Construction, and Improvements" received $340.8 million, while a second account for "Operations and Support" received $10.75 million.
The maneuver follows Congress's explicit rejection of a $1 billion request for what the administration calls the "East Wing Modernization Project," a 90,000-square-foot ballroom being built where the White House's East Wing once stood.
White House officials defended the transfer by tying the ballroom to national security. Spokesperson Davis Ingle cited recent threats against Trump, including an alleged plot targeting a UFC event planned for the South Lawn, arguing the venue requires "drone-proof structures and drone ports" and other security features.
"The East Wing Modernization Project is inextricably tied to the security of the president, the White House grounds and certain security infrastructure assets," Ingle stated. He added that Trump and "generous American patriots" are contributing approximately $400 million toward the project.
Republican and Democratic lawmakers expressed skepticism. Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina, a retiring Republican on the appropriations committee, told outlets the funding approach "sounds like a different way to fund the East Wing project" and "doesn't sound right." Democratic Senator Brian Schatz of Hawaii added, "I don't know whether it's the ballroom, but it sounds like the ballroom."
The funding controversy deepens an ongoing dispute over who is actually paying for the construction. When announced in July 2025 at an estimated $200 million cost, Trump called it "a private thing." By March, with costs doubled to $400 million, he insisted the project was "taxpayer-free" and that "we have no taxpayer putting up 10 cents."
Internal records obtained from Clark Construction, the firm overseeing the project, tell a different story. Company documents show planned allocations of $155 million from Secret Service funds, $149 million from the White House military office and $3 million from the executive residence, all public money, alongside private contributions. Total costs could reach $600 million.
Private fundraising has drawn its own criticism. Ethics watchdogs including the Campaign Legal Center have warned that donations from major corporations such as Meta, Coinbase and Lockheed Martin, all with significant business before the federal government, create substantial corruption risks.
The construction project also faces ongoing legal challenges. A federal judge ruled in March that the administration likely exceeded its authority in demolishing the East Wing without congressional approval.
Author James Rodriguez: "This is a textbook shell game: promise private funding, demand public money, get rejected by Congress, then quietly shovel Secret Service dollars into a pet project anyway. The security justifications sound convenient after the fact."
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