Donald Trump recently dubbed a reporter “dumb” while defending the cost of his new White House ballroom project. The US president, who made the remarks before departing for China on Tuesday, even insisted that despite the doubling in size of the ballroom, it was still “under budget.”
Donald Trump calls reporter a ‘dumb person’ while defending ballroom project costs
Donald Trump recently snapped at a reporter for asking about the cost of the new White House ballroom project. On May 12, the US president announced that his new project had “doubled” in size while still being “under budget.” Hearing this, when a reporter pointed out the rising cost, Trump was not very pleased.
“We have a ballroom that’s under budget. I’ve doubled the size of it because we obviously need that,” Trump told reporters before leaving for China. “And we’re right now on budget, under budget and ahead of schedule.”
On learning about the size of the ballroom, when a reporter questioned if the cost had doubled, Trump snapped, and said, “I doubled the size of it you dumb person! Doubled the size,” he snapped. “You are not a smart person.”
Last year, the White House announced that “The White House State Ballroom will be a much-needed and exquisite addition of approximately 90,000 total square feet of ornately designed and carefully crafted space, with a seated capacity of 650 people.”
It further stated that the president has “chosen McCrery Architects as lead architect.” The project “is expected to be completed long before the end of President Trump’s term.” Further mentioning about the cost, the statement mentioned that “President Trump, and other patriot donors, have generously committed to donating the funds necessary to build this approximately $200 million dollar structure.”
However, in December, per USA Today, the president announced the new price of his ballroom project, saying that they are “donating a $400 million ballroom and we got sued not to build it. I think I’ll do it for less. But it’s 400.”
He even addressed the cost of the project on Truth Social, writing that “the original price was 200 Million Dollars, the double sized, highest quality completed project will be something less than 400 Million Dollars. It will be magnificent, safe, and secure.”
