US President Donald Trump said on Monday that he is building a granite helipad on the White House lawn, insisting that the landing area is needed to accommodate new, more powerful presidential choppers.
Confirmation of the project came as construction crews had already begun working on the helipad on the South Lawn, where the president had UFC build a temporary arena for a cage fight celebrating his 80th birthday. He said the project would be privately funded and estimated its cost at up to US$6 million.
“It’s got the seal of the White House on it in granite, in carved granite,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “It’s really a beautiful thing.”
The Republican president did not offer details on how long the work would take. It is the latest major construction project he has overseen in an effort to increasingly mould the White House in his own image.
Some of Trump’s major White House construction projects have relied on public money, even when the president initially suggested otherwise. Still, Trump said that Sikorsky Aircraft, a subsidiary of defence contracting giant Lockheed Martin, would be paying for the helipad.
Asked about the cost of the project and a timeline for its completion, Lockheed Martin responded with a statement reading in part: “This specific contribution was made to the Trust for the National Mall, the National Park Service’s non-profit organisation” and “conducted in full accordance with all applicable laws and regulations”.
