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2. Texas
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From today’s WaPo reporting… Five months after the demolition of the White House’s East Wing, President Trump claimed that the project to construct a massive ballroom and a bunker in its place would cost up to $400M. And that private donors would pay for all of it. “This is taxpayer-free. We have no taxpayer putting up 10 cents,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on March 31. But a detailed project summary prepared for the WH by the contractor more than three weeks before Trump’s comments estimated the total construction cost at $600M — with more than HALF coming from taxpayers. This is according to a copy of the contractor estimate obtained by WaPo. By the time Trump made his comments in March, the federal government had already approved more than a dozen payments to the contractor overseeing the work, Clark Construction, totaling tens of millions of dollars in public funds. Again, according to contractor logs. Since first announcing the East Wing project last July, Trump has repeatedly said that the price tag would not exceed $400M and that private donations routed through a nonprofit would cover its entire cost. At other times, he has said that the Secret Service and the military would contribute security enhancements, without elaborating on the price of those upgrades. Multiple project summaries provided to the WH by Clark Construction show that internal cost estimates have been significantly higher than administration officials have acknowledged in public comments or court filings. They also show that the work was projected to rely heavily on taxpayer dollars from the moment it was announced. The WH did not answer questions about the internal cost estimates or taxpayer funding. But did supply this BS boilerplate: “President Trump and generous American patriots are funding the ballroom to the tune of approximately $400 million, which will be a secure and appropriate venue for Presidents for generations to come.” On Oct. 22, in the same week Clark began demolishing the East Wing, Trump told reporters that the price had risen to $300M. He said that the military was involved but that the project would be paid for “100 percent by me and some friends of mine.” However, a project summary dated Oct. 20, the day the demolition began, shows that Clark expected the full project to cost $478M. Taxpayers were expected to fund nearly HALF of that, the documents show. Speaking at the WH in December, Trump said the cost could reach $400M. “We’re donating a building that’s approximately $400 million,” he said.” By March, Clark had informed the WH that the projected cost had increased to $600M. A project summary dated March 5 shows that nearly half of that, $293M, was expected to come from “private sources.” The estimate said an additional $155M would come from the Secret Service. $149M from the White House Military Office. And $3M from the Executive Residence. All sources funded by taxpayers. We the people are having our pockets picked by our president. He is lying with our money. And the GOP Congress is allowing him to do it all. Questions. Did you know about any of this shell game being played at your constituents’ expense? Did you approve any of this? This is the architectural version of the Iran war Trump started. He makes the mess. Can’t clean it up. But it must be cleaned up. So it falls to the taxpayer to have to do so. Because what is the other choice? Trump will never pay for anything he says he will. He knows a sucker when he sees one. It is America. And the GOP Congress. Angry doesn’t even to describe our citizens collective mood.