CNN’s Abby Phillip on Tuesday showed viewers a damning montage of President Donald Trump promising the American people that his controversial new White House ballroom project would be privately funded and cost them nothing — only for that to likely change.
The “NewsNight” host noted at the top of the segment that the ballroom was initially touted as a wholly donor-funded project. Now, a proposal released Monday shows Senate Republicans are seeking $1 billion in taxpayer dollars for “security enhancements.”
“It looks like American taxpayers could be footing the bill for President Trump’s ballroom after all,” Phillip said Tuesday. “Senate Republicans are now looking to give the Secret Service 1 billion — yeah, that’s billion, with a B — dollars for security upgrades for this project.”
She added, “And the GOP is arguing that the public should bankroll some of the costs after last month’s shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. But that’s not what Trump has been saying since he started his prized renovation project.”
Phillip then played a rather brutal montage of the president’s litany of initial promises made about the ballroom, which he made space for by demolishing the East Wing of the White House last year.
