Unknown details about the new construction site at the White House. The room designed as a bunker and the roof that is meant to be a “drone port”
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday revealed previously unknown details about his new bunker-like White House ballroom, saying it will have a rooftop drone base and a military hospital that will be part of a six-story underground complex, Reuters reports.
Amid the noise of construction work, Trump led a group of reporters on a tour of the project to try to make his case that the US Congress should appropriate $1 billion to pay for security improvements to the building.
Democrats and some Republicans oppose the request as extravagant as ordinary Americans grapple with rising gas prices and other fallout from Trump's war on Iran ahead of November's midterm elections.
Trump, a billionaire real estate developer, did not hold back from describing previously unknown details about the project, which, at about 8,360 square meters, will make the adjacent White House, built in the late 18th century, look small.
Trump has argued that the ballroom is needed for large events of 1,000 people, a much larger capacity than the White House's entertainment facilities can accommodate. He made his case for the ballroom after the apparent assassination attempt at a Washington hotel where he was attending a media gala, saying it would be a much safer place.
Trump detailed the ballroom's security measures on Tuesday, describing a bunker-like structure with an armored roof capable of withstanding a direct attack.
He stated that the recently installed titanium fence around the ballroom is so strong that “not even a bulldozer can tear it down.” The roof, he said, would be constructed of “impenetrable steel.”
Beneath the ballroom, there will be a complex that will span six floors underground, the Republican president added, pointing to two floors that were already under construction.
The underground complex is to include a military hospital and research facilities, although Trump did not explain the scope of the research. The White House declined to provide further details.
Trump talked enthusiastically about installing a rooftop drone base “designed for an unlimited number of drones.”
“The whole roof is built for the military,” he said. “It has a huge drone capability. Not only is it drone-proof, but if a drone hits the roof, it will ricochet without any impact. But it's also designed as a drone port that would protect all of Washington.”
The ballroom windows would be four inches thick and made of a special type of glass.
“You can see through them as if they don't exist,” the American leader claimed.
