Most Americans oppose Trump's $300M ballroom project: Survey
Most Americans oppose President Trump’s $300 million ballroom project, according to a poll.
In the Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll, 56 percent of respondents said they are “somewhat” or “strongly” against the project. On the opposite side, 28 percent in the poll said they either “somewhat” or “strongly” back the project.
Major companies including Amazon, Apple and Google are among those donating to help cover the ballroom’s cost. The president told reporters last week the project would have a price tag of $300 million, higher than the original $200 million estimate from the White House in the summer. Trump has said it would be entirely privately funded.
“Over the years many presidents have made changes. This obviously would be the biggest change. But this is something they’ve wanted for at least 150 years,” Trump said last week.
The demolition of the White House's East Wing to leave space for Trump’s vision of a large ballroom has caused a large outcry from critics.
Destruction of the East Wing was completed last Thursday. Excavators were seen tearing it apart beginning the Monday before. The Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll began the Friday after destruction was completed.
The East Wing previously held the office of first lady Melania Trump, the offices of the White House social secretary and calligrapher, the movie theater and the presidential bunker.
Some Senate Democrats, led by Sen. Adam Schiff (Calif.), on Tuesday wrote a letter addressed to White House chief of staff Susie Wiles requesting a “complete accounting of all donations to the White House ballroom construction project.”
“We write to express serious concerns regarding President Trump’s financing of the new White House ballroom construction project through private donations from individuals and corporations whose business interests are deeply impacted by the administration and its decisions,” the senators wrote.
The Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll took place Oct. 24-28, featuring 2,725 people, with plus or minus 1.9 percentage points as its margin of sampling error.