WASHINGTON — Republicans are pushing for Congress to approve President Donald Trump’s ballroom at the White House following the apparent assassination attempt at a press gala Saturday night — a display of how the party is so dedicated to Trump’s vanity projects members will use near-tragedies to justify them.
A federal judge has held up construction of the $400 million ballroom, saying Trump broke the law by demolishing the East Wing of the White House without authorization from Congress. Some Republicans have said Congress should allocate funding for its construction, even though Trump repeatedly said the proposed ballroom, which would dwarf much of the existing White House, would be paid for entirely with private donations.
“Authorization of the ballroom should be a no-brainer,” Rep. Nick Langworthy (R-N.Y.) told HuffPost. “Any opposition to the ballroom has been nothing more than a partisan temper tantrum because they want to oppose it because it was Trump’s idea.”
The ballroom itself is remarkably unpopular — a Washington Post survey conducted last fall found just a quarter of Americans supported building it, with 61% in opposition — but it has emerged as a key focus for Trump, who has spent much of his second term focused on construction projects around Washington, D.C.
