Firm building Trump’s ballroom got secret no‑bid contract, NYT reports

The Trump administration has covertly granted the private company building Trump’s ballroom project a no-bid federal contract to fix two fountains near the White House. Originally estimated to cost $3.3 million, the administration arbitrarily raised the value to $17.4 million.

The company that Trump hired to build his vanity ballroom, Clark Construction, got a secret no-bid contract for another project. The project was estimated to cost $3.3 MILLION. Trump paid them $17.4M to do it. Those are our taxpayer dollars he wasted.

"The Trump admin gave Clark Construction — the same firm building Trump’s White House ballroom — a secret no-bid contract to fix two Lafayette Park fountains. Price tag: $17.4 million. Biden-era estimate for the same job: $3.3 million." newrepublic.com/article/1961...

NYT today: "The Trump administration gave a secret, no-bid contract to the firm building the WH ballroom -- after inflating its value 3X. This time, the government pays, not private donors." www.nytimes.com/2026/04/25/u...

"Last summer, President Trump chose Maryland-based Clark Construction to build his mammoth White House ballroom. In January, the Trump administration secretly gave the company a no-bid contract to do another job at a sharply inflated price, government documents show." www.nytimes.com/2026/04/25/u...

Biden administration estimated in 2022 that repairing 2 fountains in Washington would cost $3.3 million The Trump admin secretly gave the company that is building his White House ballroom a NO-BID contract to do the repair job for $11.9 million New York Times investigation found nyti.ms/4mTUzlk

In addition to the obvious BS and wool over eyes, this: Trump has secretly awarded the “ballroom company” a no-bid $17.4 million contract to repair two ornamental fountains in Lafayette Park near the WH. In 2022 the Biden admin estimated the work to cost $3.3 m. open.substack.com/pub/heatherc...

NEW via @nytimes.com: "Firm Building #Trump's #Ballroom Got a Secret No-Bid Contract for a Nearby Job The NPS increased the value of the contract several times over & then awarded it to Md.-based #ClarkConstruction, in a process that experts said was highly unusual." www.nytimes.com/2026/04/25/u...

NYT: Republicans in Congress argued that the attack is evidence that Trump needs his new White House ballroom. They are a bunch of spineless ass kisses and traitors!

Currently, Trump has no ability to block the AP or the NYT or Tucker Carlson from the dinner. If it's in his ballroom, he (or a future president) would obviously have that power (though I guess courts might intervene eventually). That seems... bad!

From there, it's a no-BS sweep across the front lines: a $400 million ballroom funded by your tax dollars (after Trump promised to pay himself), a no-bid contract inflated 3X, Pete Hegseth taking Kid Rock on Apache joyrides while the chain of command rots, the FCC weaponized against ABC and Kimmel…

Why would he need a BALL ROOM? To hang the GOP’s Balls?

Republicans jumped on concerns about security at the Washington Hilton, the longtime venue of the dinner, to marshal support for the ballroom Trump is constructing on the White House grounds. (NYT)

The firm building the luxury White House ballroom quietly got a secret, no-bid contract to fix two fountains in Lafayette Park that Trump bragged about last week. The firm was paid nearly 5 times the estimated cost.

4/26/26: "NYT reported that the [REPUB] Trump admin has SECRETLY awarded the Company it chose to build the ballroom a no-bid $17.4 million contract to repair two ornamental fountains in Lafayette Park near the White House-SIMPLY gave the contract to Maryland-based Clark Construction." HCR