Last October, the scene of demolition crews using a backhoe to tear down the East Wing of the White House was so dramatic that it became an impromptu tourist attraction. President Donald Trump, who considers himself to be “builder-in-chief,” isn’t done yet.
The White House will spend $377 million for renovations and repairs for the presidential residence this year, according to the president’s budget released on Friday. And that’s not even all of it—it’s estimating another $174 million for fiscal year 2027. This would be an 866% increase from the estimated $39 million spent on White House repairs during fiscal year 2025.
The money mostly comes from donors, an Office of Management and Budget official told Fortune.
In October, the White House released a list of 37 donors who are funding the East Wing renovations, including Big Tech companies such as Meta Platforms, Apple, Google, and Amazon. There were also a number of individual or family donors, including the Adelson Family Foundation, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick’s family, Blackstone CEO Stephen A. Schwarzman, and cryptocurrency billionaires Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss.
The budget does not specify what projects the funding will go toward, but an Office of Management and Budget official told Fortune that the money will cover all repair, renovation, construction, and security costs. These figures represent money already in the government accounts, not a request from Congress for more funding, the official said—an important distinction as many other parts of this budget, such as the record-breaking ask of $1.5 trillion in military spending for next year, are new requests for Congress to approve.
In a January filing as part of a lawsuit against the National Park Service brought by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, White House Management and Administration Director Joshua Fischer wrote that there are plans to fix water infiltration, update old electrical infrastructure, comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, and remove asbestos and lead-based paint. “Donated funds received by NPS pursuant to NPS’s gift authority are being transferred to the White House Repair and Restoration Account pursuant to the Economy Act,” Fischer wrote in the filing, “to fund this project and supplement the Executive Mansion’s annual allowance appropriated,” which is $2 million for fiscal year 2026, and $6 million in 2027.
Last year, Trump replaced the Rose Garden lawn—a space that has been used for decades for bill signings, press conferences, and formal dinners—with a stone patio for events. He dubbed the renovated space the “Rose Garden Club,” a space “for senators, for congresspeople and for people in Washington, and frankly, people that can bring peace and success to our country,” Trump said at an event in September.
He had also planned to host tech executives in the space in September, many of whom run companies that later donated to the ballroom project, but the event was moved inside due to the weather.
Some $350 million of the estimated $377 million is considered mandatory spending, a designation used for programs Congress funds by statute, such as Medicare and Social Security, rather than yearly appropriation. The private, tax-deductible donations were placed in the National Park Service gift account, which is a mandatory account, according to the OMB official, and not subject to yearly congressional appropriations.
The ballroom is the most prominent project that has been announced. Trump repeatedly said that taxpayers will not foot the $400 million bill for the 90,000-square-foot ballroom renovation. When the plan for the ballroom was announced in July, the president said it would cost half the price.
“I am honored to be the first President to finally get this much-needed project, which is on time and under budget, underway,” Trump said on social media on April 2. “When completed, it will be the Greatest and Most Beautiful Ballroom of its kind anywhere in the World, and a fabulous complement to our Beautiful and Storied White House!”
