Trump confirms rumors that 'massive' military complex is being built beneath new White House ballroom

President Donald Trump has said that the military is in the process of building a “massive complex” under the planned White House ballroom. He added that the complex will have bulletproof glass as well as other security features.

“Now, the military is building a big complex under the ballroom, which has come out recently because of a stupid lawsuit that was filed,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One.

“But the military is building a massive complex under the ballroom, and that’s under construction, and we’re doing very well,” he added, “We have all bullet-proof glass, we have drone-proof roofs, ceilings. Unfortunately, we’re living in an age when that’s a good thing.”

Last week, the president had indicated that the new ballroom would have a national security aspect to it that was “supposed to be secret.”

“Now it’s no secret, the military wanted it more than anybody,” Trump said at the time in a cabinet meeting while discussing the ballroom plans. “It was supposed to be secret, but it became unsecret because of people that are really unpatriotic saying things,” he added.

Last year, corporate media organizations scrambled to slam the White House when the East Wing of the building went under construction. The remodeling involves stripping the building down to its core structural components in order to remodel the wing with the ballroom.

The project is being entirely funded by private donors instead of taxpayers, the White House has said. "All of the money paid is paid by myself and donors… it’s all donors," Trump added. "There’s not one dime of government money going into the ballroom."

The proposal for the ballroom was approved in February by the US Commission of Fine Arts, which voted unanimously 6-0 in order to greenlight the $400 million project. The project is expected to greatly increase the White House’s capacity to hold larger events.

Trump said that the construction of the ballroom is under budget as well as "ahead of schedule." Ground was broken on the ballroom in October. At the time, Trump said, “Completely separate from the White House itself, the East Wing is being fully modernized as part of this process and will be more beautiful than ever when it is complete!”

He said that many other presidents have also spoken about constructing a ballroom in the White House. “Every President has dreamt about having a Ballroom at the White House to accommodate people for grand parties, State Visits, etc. I am honored to be the first President to finally get this much-needed project underway, with zero cost to the American Taxpayer!” he added at the time. 

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt first announced the plans for the ballroom in July last year.