The dance hall built in the White House, at Donald Trump's will, it will cost up to and including 600 million dollars, of which half will come from public funds, contrary to the assurances of the American president, the Washington Post writes today.
A summary of the project, prepared for the Republican government by the contractor and a copy of which the paper received, estimated the cost at $600 million in early March, with half being paid by American taxpayers.
Papers from Clark Construction "show that internal cost estimates were significantly higher than government officials have recognised in public statements or judicial documents," Post said.
"They also show that, from the beginning, the project was designed to rely heavily on taxpayers' money".
The cost of the project, which has been one of the most grandiose for the White House for more than a century, does not stop growing.
His planned budget, originally financed by private donations, had already been launched from $200 million to $400 million.
Last January, Trump described it as "a gift to the United States" and has publicly defended it strongly.
When asked by the paper, the White House simply reiterated that funding would come from "President Trump and generous American patriots (...) at a height of approximately $400 million".
The contractor, for his part, replied that the details are confidential and referred for any questions to the government.
In October, Trump had the eastern wing leveled to erect a dance hall there with a capacity for 1,000 people to welcome for receptions and official dinners.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation, a non-profit organization entrusted by Congress with protecting historic buildings, resorted to justice in December arguing that the US government did not comply with legal requirements for evaluation and did not receive Congress' permission for the project.
In early April federal judge Richard Leon in his decision ordering the interruption of work on the construction of the dance hall, had written: "The president of the United States is the White House surveyor for subsequent generations of presidential families. However he is not his owner!".
Judging that the plan required Congress approval, the American judge wrote in his decision that "not too late to grant Congress permission to continue the work.
"It has ADIKO!", Trump then reacted by commenting angryly on the court decision repeating that Congress's green light has never been requested (...) for anything, small or large, for which work had to be done within the White House".