Overview
- Bill Maher and Sen. John Fetterman defended the planned White House ballroom on Maher’s Club Random podcast, with Maher calling the cost “couch money.”
- Maher said about $330 million sounds typical for a ballroom, while Fetterman argued backlash is driven by “Trump Derangement Syndrome.”
- Trump has said the project will cost under $400 million and be paid for by private donors such as Meta and Apple.
- Funding remains unsettled, with GOP lawmakers floating $1 billion in security spending tied to the project that still lacks approval.
- The White House frames the build as a security need after the Correspondents’ Dinner attack, even as polls show most Americans oppose the East Wing teardown and lawsuits continue.