No more Rose Garden???

[KaraBulut]

...but Obama's basketball court!

 

[rareboy]

The list of donors who are paying for the Epstein Ballroom. The donations are being managed by the Trust for the National Mall, a nonprofit that helps manage federal projects...based on WaPo:

1. Altria Group
2. Amazon (Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns The Post.)
3. Apple
4. Booz Allen Hamilton
5. Caterpillar
6. Coinbase
7. Comcast Corporation
8. Hard Rock International
9. Google ($22 million toward the ballroom came from a settlement Trump reached with the Google-owned video site YouTube. The agreement, announced in September, ended a lawsuit he brought over the company’s 2021 decision to suspend his account in the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.)
10. HP
11. Lockheed Martin (in a statement, the company said it was “grateful for the opportunity to help bring the President’s vision to reality and make this addition to the People’s House, a powerful symbol of the American ideals we work to defend every day.”)
12. Meta Platforms
13. Micron Technology
14. Microsoft (in a statement earlier this month, the company said: “This project will benefit not only this presidency, but presidencies to come, as they welcome guests to the White House on behalf of the American people.”)
15. NextEra Energy
16. Palantir Technologies
17. Ripple
18. Reynolds American
19. T-Mobile (in a statement reported by CNN, the company said it had donated to the Trust for the National Mall “ahead of America’s 250th anniversary,” but had “no role in the use of those funds or decisions related to the construction of the ballroom.”)
20. Tether America
21. Union Pacific Railroad
22. J. Pepe and Emilia Fanjul
23. Adelson Family Foundation
24. Stefan E. Brodie
25. Betty Wold Johnson Foundation
26. Charles and Marissa Cascarilla
27. Edward and Shari Glazer
28. Harold Hamm
29. Benjamin Leon Jr.
30. The Lutnick Family
31. The Laura & Isaac Perlmutter Foundation
32. Stephen A. Schwarzman
33. Konstantin Sokolov
34. Kelly Loeffler and Jeff Sprecher
35. Paolo Tiramani (The founder of BOXABL, a company that makes prefabricated homes, said in an email Friday that his donor advised fund had donated $10 million in personal equities to the project. Tiramani said current facilities at the White House were not large enough to host events that “our country deserves” and said Trump “has put blood, treasure, life and liberty on the line to serve and I love him for it.” He added that the White House has been modified “many times over two centuries.”)
36. Cameron Winklevoss
37. Tyler Winklevoss

 

[rareboy]

And more on some of them.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/10/23/us/trump-white-house-ballroom-donors-invs

 

[KaraBulut]

The list of donors who are paying for the Epstein Ballroom. The donations are being managed by the Trust for the National Mall, a nonprofit that helps manage federal projects...based on WaPo:

1. Altria Group
2. Amazon (Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns The Post.)
3. Apple
4. Booz Allen Hamilton
5. Caterpillar
6. Coinbase
7. Comcast Corporation
8. Hard Rock International
9. Google ($22 million toward the ballroom came from a settlement Trump reached with the Google-owned video site YouTube. The agreement, announced in September, ended a lawsuit he brought over the company’s 2021 decision to suspend his account in the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.)
10. HP
11. Lockheed Martin (in a statement, the company said it was “grateful for the opportunity to help bring the President’s vision to reality and make this addition to the People’s House, a powerful symbol of the American ideals we work to defend every day.”)
12. Meta Platforms
13. Micron Technology
14. Microsoft (in a statement earlier this month, the company said: “This project will benefit not only this presidency, but presidencies to come, as they welcome guests to the White House on behalf of the American people.”)
15. NextEra Energy
16. Palantir Technologies
17. Ripple
18. Reynolds American
19. T-Mobile (in a statement reported by CNN, the company said it had donated to the Trust for the National Mall “ahead of America’s 250th anniversary,” but had “no role in the use of those funds or decisions related to the construction of the ballroom.”)
20. Tether America
21. Union Pacific Railroad
22. J. Pepe and Emilia Fanjul
23. Adelson Family Foundation
24. Stefan E. Brodie
25. Betty Wold Johnson Foundation
26. Charles and Marissa Cascarilla
27. Edward and Shari Glazer
28. Harold Hamm
29. Benjamin Leon Jr.
30. The Lutnick Family
31. The Laura & Isaac Perlmutter Foundation
32. Stephen A. Schwarzman
33. Konstantin Sokolov
34. Kelly Loeffler and Jeff Sprecher
35. Paolo Tiramani (The founder of BOXABL, a company that makes prefabricated homes, said in an email Friday that his donor advised fund had donated $10 million in personal equities to the project. Tiramani said current facilities at the White House were not large enough to host events that “our country deserves” and said Trump “has put blood, treasure, life and liberty on the line to serve and I love him for it.” He added that the White House has been modified “many times over two centuries.”)
36. Cameron Winklevoss
37. Tyler Winklevoss

This looks like a good list for the next Democratic FTC chair to look at for anti-trust actions. They can also divert some of that wasted money on ICE into FTC trust-busting actions.

 

[rareboy]

The US cannot and will not ever bust the techno-trusts. Because they now wholly own all branches of government and all the people in both parties that could do it and there is no mechanism to do it. Not even some future Dem. FTC chair. We saw that clearly during the Biden era.

 

[rareboy]

​

 

[KaraBulut]

The US cannot and will not ever bust the techno-trusts. Because they now wholly own all branches of government and all the people in both parties that could do it and there is no mechanism to do it. Not even some future Dem. FTC chair. We saw that clearly during the Biden era.

It's worth noting that while Biden's Administration pursued anti-trust litigation to break up monopolies, Trump's FTC/DOJ are doing the same thing, however it usually results in a consent decree with a big donation from the company after "the v.".

Department of Justice Wins Significant Remedies Against Google

Today, the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division won significant remedies in its monopolization case against Google in online search. In United States et al. v. Google, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia prohibited Google from entering or maintaining exclusive contracts...

www.justice.gov

Amazon, Apple and Google are helping pay for Trump’s ballroom as donor list revealed

Big Tech giants helping to bankroll president’s $300m White House project, full list of sponsors reveals

www.independent.co.uk

 

[rareboy]

The error that the person below makes is assuming that the 90,000 sf is all on one floor.

There would be at least two floors with the ballroom on the upper floor.

But more likely 3 levels with a basement, meeting rooms and offices etc on the ground floor and the Ballroom on the upper floor.

And the link to the White House residence itself will be at least two levels so even at 40 feet wide, would be about 6000 sf+ per floor. So this would be about 27,500 sf per floor...still fucking huge.

But he is right. This is all just imagination. Renderings and concepts.

But what Trump did is an old developer's trick to force a project. Demolish what you want to replace as fast as possible and get some excavation going while the actual design and construction drawings are being developed.

As TrumpCo. noted...the National Capitol Commission only addresses what is to be built, not what is demolished.

So move fast and break things.

 

[KaraBulut]

The error that the person below makes is assuming that the 90,000 sf is all on one floor.

There would be at least two floors with the ballroom on the upper floor.

But more likely 3 levels with a basement, meeting rooms and offices etc on the ground floor and the Ballroom on the upper floor.

And the link to the White House residence itself will be at least two levels so even at 40 feet wide, would be about 6000 sf+ per floor. So this would be about 27,500 sf per floor...still fucking huge.

But he is right. This is all just imagination. Renderings and concepts.

But what Trump did is an old developer's trick to faorce a project. Demolish what you want to replace as fast as possible and get some excavation going while the actual design and construction drawings are being developed.

That's one puzzling thing... the White House has had several underground excavations to build bunkers- during the 1940s-1950s during the Cold War, possibly during the Kennedy Administration, definitely in the Obama Administration and those are just the ones that we know about.

Because the East Wing was used for war planning during WWII, it definitely had a bunker underneath it.

Washington DC was once a marsh. It has alluvial soils and some of it is actually landfill where they filled in marshland.

I'm just puzzled what will happen when an enormous building is placed upon an area that is partially reinforced bunker and partially alluvial soils that are prone to subsidence. You know that with the fast way that this is happening, they didn't bring in engineers to study that section of the grounds.

More dementia symptoms and a bunch of codependent enablers keeping gramps occupied while they work on Project 2025 and the White Christian Nationalist game plan.

 

[rareboy]

That's one puzzling thing... the White House has had several underground excavations to build bunkers- during the 1940s-1950s during the Cold War, possibly during the Kennedy Administration, definitely in the Obama Administration and those are just the ones that we know about.

Because the East Wing was used for war planning during WWII, it definitely had a bunker underneath it.

Washington DC was once a marsh. It has alluvial soils and some of it is actually landfill where they filled in marshland.

I'm just puzzled what will happen when an enormous building is placed upon an area that is partially reinforced bunker and partially alluvial soils that are prone to subsidence. You know that with the fast way that this is happening, they didn't bring in engineers to study that section of the grounds.

More dementia symptoms and a bunch of codependent enablers keeping gramps occupied while they work on Project 2025 and the White Christian Nationalist game plan.

As I noted above, the actual real design work is only underway and that will include soils studies and engineering for the piles and/or caisson foundations required to carry the buildings. The foundations construction may be very expensive, possibly one of the reasons the price will skyrocket.

They even have likely done the soils investigations already at the perimeter, or even inside the existing building by coring.

All TrumpCo. did was force the project by tearing down what is there.

 

[rareboy]

 

[rareboy]

A pretend king commits real vandalism on the White House

Two Americans, Judith A.

luciantruscott.substack.com

 

[KaraBulut]

As I noted above, the actual real design work is only underway and that will include soils studies and engineering for the piles and/or caisson foundations required to carry the buildings. The foundations construction may be very expensive, possibly one of the reasons the price will skyrocket.

They even have likely done the soils investigations already at the perimeter, or even inside the existing building by coring.

All TrumpCo. did was force the project by tearing down what is there.

Exactly. This isn't a slab-on-grade building. Usually what I have seen in this kind of construction is the "bathtub" where they have to dig a subterranean cavity to build out pilings to carry the weight of what appears to be a massive building. It's incredibly expensive when soils are alluvial, floodplain and landfill. It also explains the constantly changing cost estimates. It is going to be a shitshow that is going to tear up the complex for years.

 

[cityboy-stl]

That's one puzzling thing... the White House has had several underground excavations to build bunkers- during the 1940s-1950s during the Cold War, possibly during the Kennedy Administration, definitely in the Obama Administration and those are just the ones that we know about.

Because the East Wing was used for war planning during WWII, it definitely had a bunker underneath it.

Washington DC was once a marsh. It has alluvial soils and some of it is actually landfill where they filled in marshland.

I'm just puzzled what will happen when an enormous building is placed upon an area that is partially reinforced bunker and partially alluvial soils that are prone to subsidence. You know that with the fast way that this is happening, they didn't bring in engineers to study that section of the grounds.

More dementia symptoms and a bunch of codependent enablers keeping gramps occupied while they work on Project 2025 and the White Christian Nationalist game plan.

I've read some things saying the ballroom is a cover for a massive expansion and re-enforcement of the underground bunkers as they prepare for the insurrection act, martial law, and self-orchestrated civil war.
CBS confirms they are upgrading the bunkers.

Trump administration plans to demolish White House's entire East Wing as ballroom cost grows to $300 million

The Trump administration is planning to demolish the entirety of the White House's East Wing as early as this weekend, two senior administration officials said, part of a ballroom project championed by President Trump.

www.cbsnews.com

"The bunker under the East Wing will also be upgraded, sources told CBS News. The White House Military Office is handling the renovation of the bunker, which is known as the President's Emergency Operations Center."

One commentary from "Glee Violette", posted for discussion. I don't know if this is true or conspiracy theory.

Glee Violette [Facebook]

People. Please. Let me say this loud and clear. IT WAS NEVER ABOUT A BALLROOM.
The East Wing was built in 1942 to disguise the simultaneous construction of an underground bunker and operations center, underneath it.
And just like then, the Ballroom being built now is a ruse. A decoy. A distraction. To cover up a new and improved bunker.
SO Of COURSE Trump did not go through the National Monuments historical preservation channels. The plans for his bunker would have been exposed to too many people. There would be no way to disguise the ballroom plans to hide it. There would be too many clues for experts to see.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Why the rush? THOSE clues are all around us, too. Fully exposed.
Trump has Congress, the DOJ, and the Supreme Court in his pocket right now, but IF elections happen next year, he WILL lose Congress.
Elections must not happen. While PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS cannot be canceled or postponed, MIDTERM elections can be, if both chambers of Congress and the President ALL sign on, for emergencies like "war". So, Trump is trying to create such an emergency.
And of course, recreating the military leadership in his image, and staging a nationwide military coup under the guise of putting down a "rebellion" or "insurrection" would serve him nicely as well.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Hegseth has now barred both the Press and Congress from the Pentagon. And barred ALL Pentagon staff from communicating with either the Press or Congress as well.
He has also been purging the Military of any leader with even a HINT of "disloyalty". Accusations by far-right influencers like Laura Loomer have resulted in firings. He has run multiple lie-detector tests. He even has a new excuse - his recent threat to fire "fat generals". And now he is having ANY service member discharged for postings on social media mocking Charlie Kirk or other MAGA leaders.
And he and Trump have been seeing how far they can push officers to follow illegal orders by having our ships fire on and destroy boats in international waters and kill the people on board. Now, for the first time, he has had an AIRSTRIKE take out an 8th boat, killing its two occupants.
The idea that these are terrorists taking drugs to America is laughable. They do not have enough fuel. They are headed in the wrong direction, to Trinidad and Tobago for the cocaine trade. And they are not carrying fentanyl. That comes up through Central America and enters through Mexico. EVERY EXPERT KNOWS THIS.
All international laws are being ignored. These boats are not boarded. Nothing is taken in evidence. There is no identification made of the occupants. There are no arrests or charges. There is no due process for their lawful prosecution.
Most importantly, any crimes they COULD be charged for DO NOT CARRY THE DEATH PENALTY.
They are not being "executed". They are being murdered.
Trump and Hegseth are seeing JUST how loyal their new military commanding officers are, and how far they can push them to obey their illegal orders.
Will they kill random foreigners in international waters, if Trump says they are criminals and terrorists threatening America?
Will they kill the SAME foreigners IN our country, ON our soil, if Trump says they are criminals and terrorists?
Will they kill ANY foreign immigrants IN our cities, on his orders?
Will they kill US?
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Trump said Hegseth should use our own cities as "training grounds" for the Military. He has attempted to send troops into several cities with Democratic mayors, and has even said out loud he wanted them to use full strength. That means live ammunition. On our own people.
And they are also arming Homeland Security and ICE. Federal purchasing logs show ICE spent $71,515,762 on “small arms, ordnance, and ordnance accessories,” including military supplies, weapons, and ammunition, in the nine months between Jan. 20 and Oct. 18, according to the Daily Beast.
While ICE denies a viral report that the purchases included "guided missile warheads", the codes on what WAS purchased are unclear. For instance, "chemical weapons" could refer to tear gas and pepper balls. Or...
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
What IS clear is THIS. Trump keeps "floating" a declaration of the Insurrection Act almost every single day. He threatens the military invasion of American cities almost every single day.
He and his VP and his cabinet heads and the Republican leaders of the House and Senate have upped their rhetoric of ALL Democrats being the "enemy within" and "antifa terrorists" and "Hamas (as in, non-Christian foreign agents) and "radical violent lunatics" - all of it intended to make MAGA folks in "red states" fear and hate the people in "blue states".
The whole idea of red states and blue states is nonsense - most statewide elections are pretty close - not only are our states pretty evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans, so are our communities and even our own families.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
But the GOP and far-right media rhetoric becomes ever more sensationalized and unhinged, day by day. Trump has been planning on taking and KEEPING the presidency from the moment he lost the 2020 election. THAT is why January 6th happened.
The January 6th riot - the assault and breach of our Capitol - was a last ditch effort to STOP the certification of the election that was happening that day, after the scheme to replace official state electors with slates of FAKE electors failed, and Vice President Pence refused to go along with Trump's order to overturn the election.
Trump will use ANY means - ANY MEANS - to hold on to the office this time around. He has proven that. He has three goals that motivate him - personal power, wealth, and revenge. Nothing he does is for the MAGA folks - they are just his pawns. And he is not here to make America "great", but to PLUNDER it and OWN it.
So, there must be NO midterm elections next year. For that he needs war-time conditions. And that war will be RIGHT HERE. So he needs himself a proper bunker. Not the 60 year old WWII bunker he hid in last time. A lavish, opulent, HUGE bunker, in the style to which he has become accustomed.
Oh, and the Ballroom he is building over it will be a nice place to serve as a proper Great Hall and Throne Room, afterwards, in order to receive tributes from future supplicants, as well.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
EDIT - CBS just confirmed it.
"The bunker under the East Wing will also be upgraded, sources told CBS News. The White House Military Office is handling the renovation of the bunker, which is known as the President's Emergency Operations Center."
And the price tag has just jumped to $300 million dollars.

 

[KaraBulut]

I've read some things saying the ballroom is a cover for a massive expansion and re-enforcement of the underground bunkers as they prepare for the insurrection act, martial law, and self-orchestrated civil war.

There's going to be a lot of conspiracy theories floating around. They may even be planning to build a pizza parlor where they hide the abducted children before they harvest their adrenal glands.

On a serious note, I will observe that there's been a surprising number of despots who have been hauled out of bunkers in the past century... alive, or dead.

 

[Alistair]

 

[Alistair]

 

[rareboy]

I've read some things saying the ballroom is a cover for a massive expansion and re-enforcement of the underground bunkers as they prepare for the insurrection act, martial law, and self-orchestrated civil war.
CBS confirms they are upgrading the bunkers.



One commentary from "Glee Violette", posted for discussion. I don't know if this is true or conspiracy theory.

While I suspect that the Truman era re-build of the White House likely included bunkers in the main residence, unquestionably, this new ballroom wing would include replacements for the bunkers that were built there in the FDR era to house staff and possibly a new command centre. It only makes sense. I suspect that when Trump fled to the bunkers in his first term on that one occaswion, he likely found them unsatisfactory.

So yes, conspiracy theories aside, it makes perfect sense that this wing would include new defensive facilities that otherwise can;t be retrofitted into the existing residence or West Wing.

 

[rareboy]

And of course, the Dems do nothing because he has immunity from the SC and they know that in spite of everything so far...they don't have the votes to impeach.

 

[rareboy]

There was never any doubt.