President Trump made a clear promise: his new White House ballroom would be paid for entirely by private donors. "Not one penny is being used from the federal government," he told reporters in November. He repeated versions of that promise for months.

Now, a Republican-led spending bill includes $1 billion in taxpayer money earmarked for security upgrades tied directly to the ballroom project. The funds were quietly tucked into a border security and immigration bill — not a standalone vote the public could easily track.

The White House says the money is for Secret Service security enhancements, not the ballroom itself. But the $1 billion is explicitly linked to the "East Wing Modernization Project" — the same construction that demolished the historic East Wing to make room for the new space.

Americans were told this would cost them nothing. That promise has now been broken.

Sign this petition to tell Congress: do not approve $1 billion in taxpayer funds for a project that was sold to the public as privately funded. Demand a transparent, public accounting of all costs before any federal money is committed.