“We’re building a helipad, beautiful helipad, and it’s got the seal of the White House on it in granite, in carved granite. It’s really a beautiful thing,” Trump told reporters on Monday.
The Post, meanwhile, suggests that the expedited construction could be connected to a scheduled Sept. 24 state visit by China’s President Xi Jinping.
They noted that official documentation shows the request to complete the project “no later than Sept. 17” occurred “days after” Trump extended the state visit invitation.
Covering the cost of Trump’s helipad
In speaking with reporters Monday, Trump defended the need for a helipad as a means of protecting the South Lawn — the same outdoor area of the White House that was ravaged by the staging of a UFC event there on the president’s 80th birthday last month.
The new Marine One presidential choppers, introduced in 2024, differ from the previous model of helicopters used for the fleet. As such, when they land on the South Lawn — the traditional presidential pickup and drop-off spot — the grass “gets ripped out,” Trump said.
The Post noted that multiple administrations discussed installing a helipad due to the potential damage to the lawn and that it was the Biden administration that actually signed the contract with D.C.-based Clark Construction to get it done.
Lockheed Martin, which builds the helicopters through its Sikorsky Aircraft company, confirmed that they would donate roughly $5 million to $6 million to cover the cost of the helipad construction — which Trump suggested was done because “they felt a little bit guilty” for not “tell[ing] us how powerful these helicopters were.”
The Post said plans for the helipad “show a 100-foot-wide presidential seal made of stone and a white-stone sidewalk connecting the helipad to the White House’s South Portico.”
The outlet reported that documents shared between the White House and Clark Construction — which is also behind Trump’s new White House ballroom — explain that meeting the expedited timeline for the entire project will require “24/7 access/working work hours” for crews at the added $875,000 cost. The previous plan reportedly called for a 19-hour workday.
With Lockheed Martin paying for the helipad, the White House didn’t respond to Moneywise’s question about where the money for the remainder of the overall $13 million project would come from, or if the project was being sped up for the Chinese president’s visit. Clark Construction also didn’t respond to Moneywise’s request for comment.
