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President Donald Trump\u2019s latest pitch for using taxpayer dollars to secure his White House ballroom featured a militarized building\u2014including a rooftop hardened against drone strikes and a \u201cdrone port\u201d that could potentially house military drones.<\/p>\n
The remarks came on May 19 as Trump gave reporters a personal tour of the ballroom project that has already involved the demolition of the White House mansion\u2019s East Wing<\/a>. The president spoke of installing a rooftop drone base \u201cfor unlimited numbers of drones\u201d operated by the US military<\/a> as a \u201cdrone port that would protect all of Washington,\u201d according to Reuters<\/a>. He also highlighted a ballroom roof made from \u201cimpenetrable steel\u201d that would supposedly be \u201cdrone-proof\u201d against potential drone strikes.<\/p>\n To pay for such measures, Trump has been urging Republican lawmakers<\/a> in the US Congress to approve $1 billion in taxpayer funding to provide a wide variety of \u201csecurity adjustments and upgrades<\/a>\u201d for his ballroom project. The taxpayer-backed security enhancements would be separate from the $400 million construction cost for the ballroom project that has been funded by private donors<\/a>, including companies such as Amazon, Apple<\/a>, Coinbase<\/a>, Comcast, Google, HP Inc., Lockheed Martin, Meta, Micron Technology, Microsoft, Palantir, Ripple, and T-Mobile.<\/p>\n It\u2019s unclear whether the anti-drone security measures and rooftop drone port will actually be incorporated into the ballroom building design. But Trump\u2019s comments coincide with the US government\u2019s new efforts to protect buildings and crowd events against potential threats posed by drones.<\/p>\n In January 2026, the Pentagon issued a \u201cGuide for Physical Protection of Critical Infrastructure<\/a>\u201d that recommends \u201chardening\u201d security measures for physically blocking drone access to facilities or events. Such physical obstacles could include \u201cconcrete walls, enclosures or hardened roofs\u201d designed to protect against drone surveillance or drone strikes, along with overhead netting and cables. The recommendations for more passive physical protection represent a \u201cnotable shift\u201d in the US military\u2019s stance toward anti-drone defenses, The War Zone<\/a> reported.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n