Republicans eye picking up $400M tab for Trump's ballroom as some Dems open to 'discuss' idea
A cohort of Senate Republicans wants to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to fund President Donald Trump's White House ballroom after a third assassination attempt was foiled over the...
By Fox News · Fox News
A cohort of Senate Republicans wants to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to fund President Donald Trump's White House ballroom after a third assassination attempt was foiled over the weekend. Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., Katie Britt, R-Ala., and Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., plan to introduce legislation that would unlock $400 million for the administration to construct the ballroom. It would effectively see Congress cover the tab for Trump's ballroom, which initially was projected to cost around $100 million but has ballooned to $400 million in the months since it was announced. Their bill comes on the heels of a new tidal wave of support from the GOP for the ballroom, which lawmakers previously had kept at arm’s length after Trump announced plans last year to build it where the East Wing once stood. REPUBLICANS SCRAMBLE TO FUND SECRET SERVICE AFTER TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT AMID RECORD-BREAKING SHUTDOWN But the new push was spurred when a gunman on Saturday attempted to enter the packed Washington Hilton ballroom, where Trump, Vice President JD Vance and his Cabinet, along with hundreds of journalists, were attending the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner. "If this is not a wake-up call, well, it should be," Graham said. Their bill would use customs fees on imports to pay for the ballroom, which Trump and the White House previously touted as being entirely funded by outside donations. REPUBLICANS RUSH TO GREEN-LIGHT WHITE HOUSE BALLROOM FOLLOWING THIRD TRUMP ASSASSINATION SCARE Whether Senate Democrats support the plan is an open question. "I don't understand why it is that every idea, it doesn't matter if on its face is good or not, Democrats choose to oppose it if it has anything to do with Donald Trump," Britt said. Some Democrats are calling for more information on what exactly happened on Saturday. "The notion of, 'Oh, this thing happened at Hilton, so let's just throw millions of dollars at a ballroom,' I mean, that strikes me as odd," Sen. Tim K…