“Now, the military is building a big complex under the ballroom, which has come out recently because of a stupid lawsuit that was filed,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One.

I thought it was fairly widely known that there was a bunker under the East Wing, dating back to the Cold War era.

Of all the stupid things that Trump is doing, I'd say updating (or deleting and rebuilding) that bunker is one of the least stupid. My understanding is that it is a refuge for the President and some advisors from which he can continue to execute his job as commander in chief of the military in case of an attack on DC. Having that up to date with better protection and communications - and possibly larger to accommodate more people - is far from stupid.

Of course, I have no doubt that Trump had no idea it existed until some time during his first term when he was taken there by White House staff. And in the self-obsessed world of Trump, if he didn't know about it no one else knew about it either. So he thought it was some kind of high secrecy thing, when it's more of an open secret. Lots of people know it exists, but exact details - particularly of the capabilities - are not as widely known.

On the other hand, I very much agree with you that the ballroom "donations" will somehow become part of the Trump grift.

--Peter