White House officials awarded a no-bid contract worth up to $500 million for President Donald Trump’s East Wing ballroom project, according to a report.
The confidential contract was awarded to Clark Construction through the Executive Residence, an office exempt from rules requiring federal agencies to seek competitive bids and publicly disclose contract details, The Washington Post said.
Trump himself negotiated some of the costs, it is claimed, including personally haggling with a Clark subsidiary over the price of concrete on March 4, less than a week into his war with Iran.
The records indicate he successfully shaved $2.3 million off the $47 million total cost of the material during the talks, according to The Post.
It comes after The New York Times reported a company hired to work on the troubled renovation of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool was also given no-bid contract.
Experts consulted by the Post said the benefit of a competitive bidding process between rival contractors is to guarantee the best value for money for American taxpayers and keep costs down.
“I would certainly expect them to compete a project of this size and complexity,” said Anthony Costa, a former GSA official who worked for four different presidential administrations.
While the office is exempt from the regulations that apply to other government agencies, the experts acknowledged the president has the legal right to hire companies of his own choice to make changes to the executive mansion and its grounds.
A White House spokesperson told The Post the contract was routed through the Executive Residence because that office “will be the primary support of the facility,” adding that it “consistently executes contracts following the law.”
The Executive Residence is typically responsible for routine repairs to the People’s House, entertainment expenses and the purchase of decorative furniture and artwork, not major construction projects, which are usually handled by the General Services Administration or National Park Service.
A spokesperson for Clark Construction told The Post: “We follow established procurement and contracting processes for each project and execute the work consistent with schedule, budget, delivery, and contractual requirements.”
The Independent has reached out to the White House and to Clark Construction for further comment.
It was revealed earlier this month that the cost of the ballroom, which Trump initially said was priced at $200 million and would be paid for by private donors, had ballooned to $600 million.
Taxpayers are now reportedly expected to pay half the total, despite just one in three people supporting the tearing down of the East Wing to accommodate it.
Trump, meanwhile, has continued to celebrate the forthcoming project on his social media platform Truth Social.
“Our Great National Security Facility and Ballroom is moving along on schedule,” he wrote Sunday. “When completed, there will be nothing like it anywhere in the World!”
