Construction crews are tearing up the White House South Lawn to make way for Donald Trump’s new helipad before he’s even told the public about it.
Teams working on the project, which officials have fenced off from view, were at the site by the ground’s South Portico until late Monday night, the Washington Post reports. The newspaper cites three sources who spoke anonymously because they did not have permission to discuss the work.
The White House is apparently in a hurry to get the helipad, which it has not so far announced or confirmed, installed because a new line of presidential choppers has an exhaust system that risks scorching the lawns. Any helicopter transporting the president is referred to as “Marine One.”
Lockheed Martin is the defense contractor that owns Sikorsky Aircraft, which has built the new generation of Marine One choppers, and has pledged $5 million to the helipad project, sources told WaPo. The newspaper reported last month that construction talks were moving quickly and that the donation would be crucial to expediting the process.
Trump’s helipad is only the latest change he’s made to the White House. Conservationists, lawmakers, government watchdogs, transparency advocates, and much of the public at large have balked as he charges ahead with building a glitzy new ballroom at the site where the building’s historic East Wing once stood.
The president initially said the ballroom would cost just $200 million and be funded entirely by private donors. The costs have since ballooned to $600 million, with at least half that figure met by taxpayers.
He has also paved over the Rose Garden, added golden furnishings to the Oval Office, and installed a “Presidential Walk of Fame” ridiculing his Democratic predecessors.
His refurb extends across the city—including plans for a 250-ft Triumphal Arch near the Lincoln Memorial and a $14 million “American flag blue” resurfacing job at the Reflecting Pool that has so far succeeded only in turning its waters vibrant green.
Trump is not the first president to consider a helipad at the White House, the Post reports. But he is the first president to go ahead with one. His predecessors were apparently put off by the idea of defacing the building’s iconic architecture.
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment on this story.
