'He's a con artist': Gov. JB Pritzker blasts Trump's ballroom project for using taxpayer money

Since President Donald Trump announced plans to build a new ballroom at the White House, the cost of the project ballooned from barely $200 million to a whopping $400 million after including added security measures, drone ports, military and facilities, and more. Another claim that went out the window was that the project was privately funded, as the administration tried to use federal funds for the ballroom. Now, a report from the Washington Post reveals the cost has shot up to $600 million, and half of it is to come from taxpayers' money. Reacting to the news, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker slammed the President, calling him a "con artist" for making false promises to Americans. 

Since first announcing the East Wing project last July, Trump insisted that the budget won't exceed $400 million and that private donations routed through a nonprofit would cover its entire cost. He later made modifications to the claims, saying the Secret Service and the military would contribute security enhancements, without elaborating on the price of those upgrades. However, according to documents uncovered by the Post, the project's cost has swelled up to $600 million, and about half of it will come through the Secret Service, the White House Military, and the Executive Residence, all of which are funded by the taxpayers. "Donald Trump is a con artist," Pritzker wrote in a post on X. "He swore this ballroom wouldn't cost taxpayers a cent. He lied."

The Post obtained multiple project summaries provided to the White House by Clark Construction, the contractor responsible for the project. As per the estimates, the internal costs of the project were projected significantly higher than what the administration officials acknowledged in public comments or court filings. They also show that the project was intended to rely heavily on taxpayer dollars from the moment it was announced.

The six cost estimates dated between July 2025 and March 2026 show the preliminary estimate for the project was $270 million, with over $100 million coming from the taxpayers through the Secret Service. Another estimate from October last year, when the demolition of the East Wing began, showed the full project to cost $478 million, with taxpayers expected to fund nearly half of that. By March, the construction company informed the White House that the projected cost had increased to $600 million. This happened after the security features were included in the project. The project summary estimate showed that nearly half of the funds, about $293 million, was expected to come from "private sources." And the rest, about $155 million, would come from the Secret Service, $149 million from the White House Military Office, and $3 million from the Executive Residence. 

Shortly after, a court issued an injunction pausing the construction above ground as it ruled that the work couldn't proceed without Congressional approval. However, the underground bunker work was allowed to continue. The next month, a gunman charged the White House Correspondents' Dinner, giving the GOP a reason to argue for the construction of the secure ballroom. Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) and others introduced legislation to get $400 million in spending authorized "to upgrade the presidential ballroom and strengthen the White House's security infrastructure." On the other hand, seven Republican senators and a league of Democrats moved to block the idea.

While over 150 Democratic lawmakers have filed a legal brief in the ongoing White House East Wing litigation, the construction has proceeded after the administration appealed the injunction. The matter is currently being heard despite courts looking at the legality of the project with skepticism.