Overview

• President Trump donated his first paycheck of the second term to the White House Historical Association to kick off extensive White House renovations.
• Initial work has included paving the Rose Garden, hanging a new presidential portrait and applying gold paint throughout executive spaces.
• The centerpiece of the project is a 900,000-square-foot East Wing ballroom estimated to cost $200 million and funded primarily by ‘patriot’ contributors.
• Historians note that Herbert Hoover and John F. Kennedy also donated their salaries, contradicting Trump’s claim of uniqueness with only George Washington as an exception.
• Legal scholars caution that accepting private donations for presidential estate updates could create pathways for undue influence or patronage.