Trump's ballroom keeps moving. The numbers are raising new questions.

President Donald Trump tours construction on the White House East Wing and new ballroom with Lara Trump on May 28, 2026.

Photo: Molly Riley/The White House

WASHINGTON (ABNN) - President Donald Trump's White House ballroom project keeps moving while questions continue over who authorized it, who is paying for it and now, how much of it is actually finished.

The Trump administration told the Supreme Court that the broader East Wing project is already 65% complete as it fights to keep construction moving during a legal challenge over whether the president had authority to undertake the project without congressional approval.

"But construction has since proceeded in accordance with four months of administrative stays, with a 250-person crew working 20 hours a day, 7 days a week to keep the Project ahead of schedule and under budget," the administration said in its Supreme Court filing.

"Today, the Project is 65% complete in its entirety, and moving quickly toward total completion," the filing states.

That percentage is now drawing scrutiny.

The Washington Post reviewed a confidential agreement between the White House and contractor Clark Construction that ties monthly payments to the percentage of work completed.

Publicly available appropriations data showed that the White House budget office had approved $144 million in spending by the end of July from an account used for the East Wing and other White House projects, according to the Post.

Even if all of that money went toward the East Wing, the Post calculated it would equal about 24% of the $600 million construction estimate Clark provided to the White House in March.

The administration's own Supreme Court filing says around $200 million has been spent or committed on the project.

Measured against the $600 million contractor estimate, that would equal roughly one-third of the projected cost. The Post reported that Clark's agreement uses the percentage of completed work to determine monthly payments.

The timeline provides another comparison.

The administration says construction began in October 2025 and is expected to be completed in August 2028, according to the Post. That puts the project roughly 10 months into a 34-month construction schedule.

Elapsed time alone does not determine how much construction has been completed, but it is another measure that does not readily explain the White House's 65% figure.

The administration did not explain in its Supreme Court filing how it calculated the percentage.

And the questions surrounding the project are not limited to how much has been built.

Mr. Trump has repeatedly said private donations would pay for the ballroom.

The administration made the same argument to the Supreme Court, saying the ballroom is funded with approximately $400 million in private donations and that "zero taxpayer dollars are needed or required."

But taxpayer money connected to security for the broader project has become part of the fight over its cost.

In May, Senate Republicans proposed $1 billion in federal funding for Secret Service security upgrades connected to the White House and East Wing project.

The $1 billion proposal did not mean the entire amount would have paid for ballroom construction. Most of the proposed funding was for broader Secret Service security needs.

Republicans eventually removed the provision from the legislation before it was signed into law in June.

Days later, the White House budget office released $351.6 million in previously appropriated Secret Service funds for "White House Security Measures," according to federal budget records reviewed by Roll Call.

Those records did not specify whether the money would help pay for the East Wing project, and Roll Call reported at the time that the purpose was unclear.

The administration has maintained a distinction between privately funded ballroom construction and taxpayer-funded security improvements.

The broader price tag has also become part of that debate.

A Clark Construction estimate obtained by The Post projected the entire East Wing project at about $600 million. The estimate projected more than half of that amount coming from taxpayer-supported sources, including the Secret Service and White House Military Office.

The legal fight remains unresolved.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled Aug. 7 that Congress, not the executive branch, has authority over such major changes to the White House and affirmed an injunction that would have stopped much of the aboveground construction.

Chief Justice John Roberts temporarily stayed that injunction Aug. 21, allowing construction to continue while the Supreme Court considers the administration's request.

So the crews keep working.

But the questions surrounding the ballroom are no longer just about whether Trump had the authority to build it.

They are also about what the broader project really costs, who is paying for it and now, how far along it actually is.

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