President Donald Trump has $377 million available to help renovate and revamp the White House for the 2026 fiscal year, according to figures in the latest official budget request.
The huge sum relates to donations held by the National Parks Service, with another $174 million marked down for 2027. Both figures represent a significant jump on the $39 million listed under 2025.
The administration is also requesting a further $2 million this year and $6 million next year to go towards upkeep and security at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, the request reveals.
It does not go into detail on precisely how the money will be spent but a spokesperson for the Office of Management and Budget told The Independent the funding would go towards repair, renovations, construction and security costs.
The Independent reached out to the White House for more information on its plans but was directed back to the OMB.
Trump has already made extensive changes to the executive mansion since returning to power in January last year, beginning with the Oval Office, which he has redesigned with as much gold as possible.
As CNN noted last year: “There is gold everywhere: new gold vermeil figurines on the mantle and medallions on the fireplace, gold eagles on the side tables, gilded Rococo mirrors on the doors, and, nestled in the pediments above the doorways, diminutive gold cherubs shipped in from Mar-a-Lago.”
“Even the remote control for the television down the hall is wrapped in gilt,” the network added.
Trump also turned a walkway between the residence and the West Wing into a Presidential “Wall of Fame,” lined with gilt-framed portraits of the 47 commanders-in-chief – with the exception of his predecessor Joe Biden, who is represented by a stock image of an autopen, a joke about his supposed reliance on the technology.
Trump has also decked out the Lincoln Bedroom in gleaming white marble, declaring that he had made it more appropriate to the Civil War era than the Art Deco style it was given during its last makeover in the 1940s.
But topping even that has been the demolition of the East Wing, traditional hangout of the first lady, to make way for the $400 million ballroom he insists has been needed for more than a century as a space for entertaining foreign dignitaries and conducting affairs of state.
Last week, District Court Judge Richard Leon sided with a complaint brought by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and ordered the project be paused until Congress authorized it to move forward, causing Trump to complain: “Basically he’s saying, I need congressional approval. And he’s so wrong.
“This is being financed privately. It’s a donation that’s being given by companies, very rich companies, very rich people, so that for 150 years, they’ve wanted a ballroom here… We’re going to have the finest ballroom, I believe, anywhere in the world.”
The president is challenging Judge Leon’s ruling and has insisted he is confident of victory.
His son Donald Trump Jr is reportedly eyeing the completed project as a possible future wedding venue should he marry Palm Beach socialite Bettina Anderson.
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