Category: News

The White House sped up construction of a new helipad and related work in anticipation of an “upcoming state visit,” requiring crews to work around the clock and driving the cost up by $875,000, according to a contractor’s records obtained by the Washington Post.

The $13 million project also includes work on the nearby South Portico and an adjacent portion of the White House driveway, which will be retopped with white stone, the contracting records show.

Workers have been on-site since June 29, when construction on the helipad got underway, according to three people who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the project publicly.

A spokesperson for Clark Construction confirmed work had begun on the project and referred questions to the White House, which declined to comment on specific details of the project.

President Donald Trump told reporters Monday morning that he had decided to build a helipad to address a long-running problem: The new generation of helicopters designated for use as Marine One — the call sign for whichever helicopter is transporting the president — runs the risk of burning the lawn.

A June 12 letter from Clark and an updated project plan that the company sent to the Trump administration capture the contractor’s efforts to shave more than a month off the planned construction timeline.

The move came after the contractor received a last-minute directive from the government to conclude work no later than Sept. 17, the documents show.

The documents obtained by the Washington Post do not name the foreign leader planning to visit the White House, but officials requested the accelerated construction timeline days after Trump invited Chinese President Xi Jinping to visit Sept. 24.

Clark’s accelerated plan “included 24-hours, 7-days per week for working hours,” the contractor’s documents show.

In the latest example of Trump’s deep involvement in efforts to reshape the White House and its grounds, the president was personally engaged in several aspects of the helipad project, from price negotiations to design minutiae, according to emails exchanged between Clark and the White House in December.

Trump offered input on how far to extend the driveway and requested adding a slight slope to the pavers to facilitate better drainage, according to emailed notes from a Dec. 19 meeting with the president.

“POTUS wants to look at the option of a curved curb for the drive,” the email noted.

On Monday, Trump told reporters at the White House that the planned helipad will have “the seal of the White House — it’s beautiful, the eagle, and it’s carved out of granite.” He said the manufacturer of the new generation of Marine One helicopters, Sikorsky, would cover the cost of what he referred to as a $5 million or $6 million helipad.

The president did not address the planned work on the South Portico or the driveway in his comments. He also did not discuss the project timeline.

The administration’s rush to complete the helipad and driveway construction in time for the state visit is reminiscent of Trump’s push to finish changes to the West Wing, including repaving a path to the Oval Office, before King Charles III visited the White House in April.

“We had it completed for King Charles,” Trump said in the Oval Office a few days later, saying that the British monarch was impressed by the project. “He loved it, and he’s seen some nice stonework.”

The highly anticipated visit by Xi would follow Trump’s trip to Beijing this year and reflects years of diplomacy between the two global powers — including efforts to smooth over tensions after last year’s trade battle sparked by Trump’s tariffs. The White House has not announced other state visits for that time period.

Some diplomatic concerns argue for finishing the helipad and driveway project quickly: The highest-status foreign dignitaries are customarily received on the White House’s South Lawn. Trump has previously welcomed Charles; Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman; and other leaders there for state visits.

Current and former White House and military personnel have also said that finishing the helipad quickly would provide some national security benefits. Trump has not been able to use his customary Marine helicopters for White House departures and landings since May, when the Ultimate Fighting Championship began construction of a large arena on the White House’s grounds. That structure covered a large part of the South Lawn, where helicopters have landed and taken off for years.

Clark, the largest general contractor in the D.C. metro area, has become Trump’s go-to for White House construction projects, some of which have been conducted using no-bid contracts. The company’s work includes overhauling Lafayette Square and building a new East Wing complex and ballroom. Clark estimated in March that the total construction costs for the ballroom project were likely to be $600 million, more than half from taxpayers, the Post previously reported.

The projects have been panned by Democrats and outside historical preservationists, who have said Trump should seek public comment before making changes to the White House, following long-established processes. Some GOP allies have said Trump should spend less time on construction and be more focused on policy matters that could boost Republicans’ chances in this fall’s midterm elections.

The White House tapped Clark for the helipad project in December under an existing contract that President Joe Biden’s administration awarded to the company in 2024 for repairs or renovations to the executive residence and its grounds.

Trump claimed Monday that he originated the idea of a White House helipad, but current and former officials told the Post in May that the concept had been considered across several administrations given the risk of the new Marine One helicopters scorching the lawn.

Lockheed Martin, whose Sikorsky division builds the helicopters, has donated $5 million to specifically cover the cost of the helipad, the company said Monday.

“Lockheed Martin has a long history of supporting projects in both the Washington, DC area and across the country,” the company said in a statement.

The president was involved in planning the helipad and driveway renovation from the start, including personally negotiating a $4.5 million subcontract for stonework, according to the December emails between Clark and White House.

The helipad plans 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 South Portico and an adjacent portion of the driveway will also be paved with white stone, planning documents show.

The president has planned other changes to the driveway, which wends through the White House grounds and was designed by landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. nearly a century ago. The loosely circular route would need to be adjusted to fit the length of Trump’s planned White House ballroom, according to renderings presented by Trump’s handpicked architect for the ballroom project this year.

Documents show Clark selected at least 11 subcontractors for the helipad project through a competitive bidding process, including one of its wholly owned subsidiaries. Several had previously been engaged by Clark for work on the ballroom addition.

On May 11, records show, Clark sent the White House a final construction plan detailing work on the helipad project beginning July 6 and concluding Oct. 20. The schedule, which was obtained by the Post, “included working hours from 0500-2400, Monday through Saturday,” six days a week, from 5 a.m. to midnight.

“Extended hours beyond those stated may be required to be accepted upon request and coordination,” the document noted.

One week later, on May 18, “the Government informed Clark of an upcoming state visit requiring Clark to achieve a new substantial completion date of September 17, 2026,” Clark division president Jared Oldroyd wrote in the June letter updating the construction plan.

Shaving a month off the construction timeline would require “24/7 work” and site preparations would have to begin immediately following the UFC event at the White House on June 14, according to the documents Clark shared with administration officials.

The accelerated plan noted that concrete work for the driveway and portico could be shortened from three weeks to two by “utilizing 24/7 access/working work hours.”

The site excavation team would also have to “work 24 hours per day in lieu of 19 hours per day,” contracting records show.

Twelve more workers and an additional foreman would be added to the stone fabrication and construction team to meet the new deadline, the documents show.

On June 30, with work already underway, a White House official signed paperwork authorizing the $875,000 needed to cover the cost of accelerating construction.

Fresh off a week of star-spangled celebrations of America’s 250th, President Donald Trump departs for Turkey on Monday to meet with fellow leaders of NATO. They hope he wouldn’t declare independence from them.

Trump has long been skeptical about NATO and European allies, asserting that the alliance the United States forged after World War II to fend off the Soviet Union has been taking advantage of Washington’s largesse. Deep into his second term, the president is now well acquainted with the theatrics of NATO gatherings, reveling, according to his associates, in the drama of threatening fellow leaders and watching them scramble to keep him happy.

The strains increase every year, with Trump’s popularity sinking in Europe after he threatened to seize Greenland in January and sent energy prices spiking with his attack on Iran. The president has fumed that European allies didn’t do enough to help Washington in its war. And in recent days, he has renewed complaints about their defense spending, though he has successfully driven big increases.

Now, the alliance will again attempt to weather Trumpian pressure, by flattering him where possible and avoiding unnecessary confrontations.

Trump is scheduled to arrive in the Turkish capital of Ankara on Tuesday and will meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan before having dinner with fellow NATO leaders that evening.

The substantive meeting will be Wednesday morning, which diplomats have kept short to minimize potential disruptions. Afterward, Trump plans to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa before holding a news conference and returning to Washington, according to White House spokesperson Anna Kelly.

The president’s grievances have already subsumed much of NATO’s business. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte laid the foundation last month, praising the president’s stewardship and delivering a presentation in the Oval Office of what he called the “Trump trillion,” with poster boards in golden, “Art of the Deal”-style lettering boasting increases in Europe’s defense spending over the last decade.

Trump told Rutte that he would skip the gathering altogether were it not being hosted by Erdogan, who for 23 years has ruled his nation with an increasingly tight grip.

Asked what he wanted from allies, Trump said alongside Rutte that “I just want their loyalty.”

He has rewarded allied leaders in recent months whom he perceives as friends, including Polish President Karol Nawrocki, whose country has been promised 5,000 more U.S. troops. And he has moved to punish those he views as insufficiently deferential, including German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who faced weeks of open criticism from Trump after questioning the president’s Iran strategy during a public conversation with schoolchildren.

Trump began and ended one day last week with angry posts about NATO on his social media account, declaring that “the United States spends more money on NATO than any other country, by far, to protect them, without getting any benefit from so doing.” But behind the public criticism, a senior White House official said, the president views the summits as an opportunity to impose pressure, leaning into his tough-guy role and seeing how leaders respond.

The last summit, held in June 2025 in the Netherlands, “was great fun,” the official said, referring to an event in which Rutte called Trump “daddy,” comparing him to a father who needs to use authority to stop kids from fighting on a schoolyard. The comment went viral online and was boosted by the White House’s edit of the video clip with the Usher song “Hey Daddy (Daddy’s Home).”

“The president always has fun at NATO, contrary to what people think,” the White House official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to speak candidly about the sensitive politics of these encounters.

NATO officials and diplomats from NATO countries don’t expect Trump to threaten to pull from the alliance this year, as he did in 2018. But they know the president likes to surprise, and they say much will depend on his mood when he lands in Turkey. It is expected to be the first international trip on the refurbished, luxury Boeing 747 that he pushed Qatar to give him for use as Air Force One.

One senior European diplomat fretted that Trump would arrive in Turkey exhausted and angry after a week of tiring travel, including a 3:30 a.m. Saturday return from an event at Mount Rushmore and a rally on the National Mall later that day in the sweltering Washington heat.

Europeans are “nervous that the way [Trump] feels about NATO is that this is not fundamentally in U.S. interests and so [they] are nervous that the summit could be more calamitous,” said Max Bergmann, an expert on U.S.-Europe relations at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a think tank. “Especially now as there’s more domestic political pressure on European leaders to be seen as standing up to Trump.”

NATO officials are coming to the summit armed with big numbers that play to Trump’s wishes. They will trumpet an extra $139 billion spent on defense by European allies and Canada last year. They will make a show of signing billions of dollars of weapons deals and letters of intent, according to senior NATO diplomats speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive planning around the meeting.

And they hope to promise as much as they can to help ensure security in the Strait of Hormuz, although many countries say they need Tehran’s assent if they are to deploy naval missions there to remove the Iranian mines that are hampering shipping traffic.

But many of NATO’s core security issues have been overshadowed by Trump’s dispute with the alliance. Ukraine and Russia have stepped up attacks on each other in recent weeks, but U.S. efforts to mediate a peace deal have all but halted. Trump’s peace envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, have been focused on Iran, and the White House hasn’t empowered other officials to engage, despite the deep ranks of policymakers who might do so.

NATO diplomats are negotiating a pledge for Ukraine of about $70 billion in military aid for this year and the next, to be announced at the summit. Washington would not take part, but it has not opposed language supportive of Ukraine, as it sometimes did last year, two diplomats said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to share internal deliberations.

The alliance has shelved work on a strategy for responding to threats from Russia, a consequence, European diplomats say, of White House caution about doing anything that would portray Moscow as an adversary.

Some U.S. officials have downplayed the tensions. The U.S. ambassador to NATO, Matthew G. Whitaker, said last week that the summit “really is going to be a measurement of the progress,” since allies pledged last year to each spend 5% of their annual economic output on defense by 2035.

Whitaker offered assurances that “the U.S. isn’t going away” but said the administration would try to reward the countries that are spending the most. He said the Pentagon and State Department have discussed possible benefits such as “more time with leaders” and “priority in acquisition and procurement.”

Asked if the U.S. was considering measures targeting nations that are lagging behind, he said yes, but did not elaborate.

The Trump administration has made disjointed troop announcements in recent months, with the Pentagon at times out of step with the White House. After the Pentagon surprised Poland by canceling a planned troop rotation, for instance, Trump scrapped it and promised an increase. In other cases, the president has suggested some cuts were punishment for European criticism of the war on Iran.

European leaders plan to declare their commitment to assume increased responsibility of the continent’s defenses — a message many of them have converged on with the Trump administration, which is intent on pulling U.S. resources.

European policymakers describe their vow to rearm as a response to an increasingly tense confrontation with Russia and shifting U.S. priorities, rather than just a bid to placate Trump. But policymakers including in France and Germany have pressed their U.S. counterparts to coordinate any military drawdown.

Some Europeans, especially those in Western Europe, have started to work with Pentagon planners on an orderly handover. French Deputy Defense Minister Alice Rufo said Paris has long led calls for greater European autonomy, and “today it is the Americans saying it” too.

“What we need to achieve at this summit is for this shift to happen in a coherent manner for collective defense, which also concerns the Americans,” Rufo said. “It’s in our best interest to ensure that this shift takes place in an orderly, efficient manner to deter our adversaries, and not to create frictions among us.”

But the effort is creating strains in the alliance. Rutte is still trying to preserve a robust U.S. presence in Europe. And many policymakers in countries that border Russia still trust Washington more than France and Germany to defend them in a war with Moscow. They believe that old American instincts to defend democracies would kick in, along with pressure from hawkish Republican lawmakers.

A senior NATO diplomat said there was a sense of optimism ahead of the summit but also a recognition that “things can derail.”

The diplomat mentioned Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, a far-right leader who shares much of Trump’s skepticism about migration and is sympathetic with many of his issues. But the two leaders traded barbs in recent weeks in a dispute that originated with Trump’s anger at Italy’s caution about allowing its bases to be used to attack Iran.

“Can I totally exclude that something like that will happen? No. I’m optimistic because I think the leaders know what is at stake,” the NATO diplomat said. “And if something does occur, then we always have the ultimate marriage counselor, Mark Rutte, to smooth things over.”

The Trump-Meloni kerfuffle took on a new dimension after Trump claimed she had “begged” for a photo with him at a recent Group of Seven meeting in France.

It escalated further over the weekend as the president posted a meme to Truth Social of Meloni looking at him during the G7, under the headline “Restraining Order Needed.” The post sparked a fresh wave of coverage in the Italian press and thinly veiled distaste within the ranks of Meloni’s coalition.