Headline Roundup • May 20th, 2026
White House Ballroom to Feature Six-Story Underground Facilities, 'Impenetrable' Roof, Trump Says
Summary from the AllSides News Team
President Donald Trump gave reporters a tour of the new White House ballroom construction on Tuesday, revealing details about its secure design and underground facilities.
The Details: Trump detailed that the roof of the ballroom would be made out of "impenetrable steel" with windows made out of "impenetrable glass." The roof will also feature a drone base, which will be "set up for unlimited numbers of drones." Around the building will be titanium fencing that "a bulldozer cannot knock it over," the president said. Beneath the ballroom extends a six-story underground complex, which will include a military hospital and research facilities. Trump did not specify the focus of the research.
For Context: Republicans in Congress have attempted to include $1 billion in a budget bill to allot to White House security, including the ballroom project, but that provision has not passed. Many Democrats and some Republicans have criticized the project, according to both Reuters (Center bias) and New York Times (Lean Left). Other funding for the project has come from wealthy donors, according to Trump.
How the Media Covered It: Reuters highlighted that the ballroom is "bunker-like," noting that some critics have called it "extravagant" while Americans "grapple with spiraling gasoline prices and other fallout from Trump's war on Iran." Similarly, New York Times wrote that Trump has "increasingly come under criticism for being out of touch with the things that Americans are most concerned about," which are "the economy… and seeing an end to a deeply unpopular and expensive war." Fox News (Right) highlighted other "beautification projects" Trump is completing in Washington, D.C., including restoration work on fountains in Lafayette Park in D.C.
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Featured Coverage of this Story
U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday revealed previously undisclosed details about his new bunker-like White House ballroom, saying it would have a drone base on the roof and a military hospital as part of a six-story subterranean complex.
Amid the bang and clang of construction, Trump took a group of reporters on a tour of the project to try to bolster his argument that the U.S. Congress should allocate $1 billion to pay for security enhancements to the building.
President Donald Trump gave reporters a fresh look Tuesday at construction of the new White House ballroom, touting it as a hardened security structure that runs six stories into the ground.
"This goes down very deep," Trump said Tuesday from outside of the White House, motioning for reporters to check out construction updates. "You get a better view right over here. … These are already down two floors. That is down about six stories deep. That's big stuff. Normally, when you build a ballroom, you build it flat. You just...
Doug Mills/The New York Times
At a time when his poll numbers are sagging, the economy is sputtering and the war he launched in Iran simply will not end, President Trump spent Tuesday morning showing off his skills in the profession he feels most comfortable with: real estate.
Mr. Trump summoned reporters to the White House to give them a peek at the giant hole where the East Wing once stood, before he had that part of the complex torn down to make way for a $400 million, 90,000-square-foot ballroom.
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