President Donald Trump led reporters on a tour of a newly constructed White House helicopter landing pad, detailing ongoing work on an adjacent event space and underground military facility on the site of the East Wing.
During the walk-through, Trump explained that the new concrete pad is four inches thick, compared to a standard depth of an inch to an inch and a half. He stated that the construction was funded through private donations, including his own financial contributions.
“It’s the kind of thing that should have been done,” Trump said. “It’s four inches thick and makes it much more powerful because it’s the White House. And this comes through contributions, donations from numerous people, including me.”
Trump noted that the pad is designed for dual utility. In addition to handling aircraft, the surface is built to hold outdoor gatherings and state events. Guests will be able to arrive along a new roadway, gather on the platform for receptions, and proceed directly to the planned ballroom without entering the main executive residence.
The site will also house an extensive subterranean military installation beneath the ballroom structure. Trump said the complex will reach nearly 65 feet deep, spanning five stories beneath the surface, and will feature bomb shelters along with a drone-proof roof equipped to deploy defensive drones for the capital.
“That started off as a ballroom, and before we started work, the military came to see me and they say, ‘Sir, we have an opportunity to do something incredible here, and we’ve been trying to do it for 100 years, but we’ve never had an opportunity like that,'” Trump said. “So I had to make that decision, and I said, ‘Look, go ahead. Design what you want.'”
Trump also addressed legal pushback regarding the project, criticizing a lawsuit filed by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. He stated that the legal filings made sensitive design details public that should have remained undisclosed.
“That’s why bringing the lawsuit was very unfortunate, because most people didn’t know that. Now they do know that. They shouldn’t have known that,” Trump said, adding that he warned the organization that public court records would expose details of the site’s security features.
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