White House Secures Foreign Steel for Ballroom Project

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/08/us/politics/white-house-foreign-steel-ballroom.html

White House Secures Foreign Steel for Ballroom Project
ArcelorMittal, a European steel maker, is donating tens of millions of dollars of foreign steel for President Trump’s new ballroom.




April 8, 2026, 5:26 p.m. ET
President Trump has championed the U.S. steel industry, promising to strengthen it and to impose stiff tariffs on foreign metals to shield manufacturers from overseas competitors.

Yet the White House has secured tens of millions of dollars worth of donated foreign steel for Mr. Trump’s $400 million ballroom project, according to two people familiar with the plans who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive and private conversations.

ArcelorMittal, a Luxembourg-based firm that is the world’s second-largest steel maker, is providing steel for the structure of the ballroom project, the people said. They said the steel was produced in Europe, where the bulk of ArcelorMittal’s production is concentrated.

The White House has not disclosed details of the donation, but Mr. Trump said last October that he had been offered a donation of steel for the ballroom valued at $37 million.raud
Metals and Pharmaceuticals

[BeyondGeography]

1. Decadent Europe has its uses I guess

[dem4decades]

2. Suck it, Pennsylvania

[Igel]

8. I guess it could be argued Pennsylvania had the same opportunity to donate that amount of steel.

But, I mean, it's donated.

[dem4decades]

9. Bribes usually are a "donation".

[Chasstev365]

3. USA... USA... USA...

[Totally Tunsie]

4. Hypocrite.

[Deuxcents]

5. It's full steam ahead and promises and court orders be damned because TSF wants it

[kacekwl]

6. They have to donate because

they know damn well they wouldn't be paid.

[LNM]

7. Take that Minnesota Iron Rangers

I get so sick of the mantra in northern Minnesota that we need the mines to keep the jobs regardless of what it does to the environment including wanting to mine next door to the Boundary Waters.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

10. MaddowBlog-The problem(s) with the White House using foreign steel for its ballroom project

This might seem like a simple story about hypocrisy, but a closer look suggests an even more important element.

The problem(s) with the White House using foreign steel for its ballroom project

This might seem like a simple story about hypocrisy, but a closer look suggests an even more important element.

www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

— Erics_Mom 💙🌊 (@ericsmom2006.bsky.social) 2026-04-09T16:56:50.707Z

https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/the-problems-with-the-white-house-using-foreign-steel-for-its-ballroom-project

To the extent that Donald Trump’s social media platform reflects the president’s priorities, it’s tempting to think he cares a great deal about the domestic steel industry. In fact, just a month into his second term, he published an item complaining about the U.S. steel industry having been “decimated by global actors.”....

As is often the case, however, there seems to be a gap between the president’s public posturing and his private decisions. The New York Times reported:

President Trump has championed the U.S. steel industry, promising to strengthen it and to impose stiff tariffs on foreign metals to shield manufacturers from overseas competitors.

Yet the White House has secured tens of millions of dollars worth of donated foreign steel for Mr. Trump’s $400 million ballroom project, according to two people familiar with the plans who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive and private conversations.

....At first blush, this might appear to be a simple story about hypocrisy: Trump claims to champion U.S. steel, but given a chance to use it for his beloved ballroom, the Republican turned to the same foreign product he’s previously denounced.

But look closer at the story and a more controversial angle emerges.

Last fall at an event for ballroom donors, the president boasted that a “great steel company” had reached out to him about making a generous gift.

“He said, ‘Sir, I’d like to donate the steel for your ballroom,’” Trump told his audience, without identifying the person he allegedly spoke to. “I said, ‘Whoa, that’s nice.’ And I found out — ‘How much is the steel?’ I called the contractor. ‘Sir, it’s down for $37 million.’ I said, ‘This is a nice donation, right?’”

The president went on to assure his event’s attendees that this would be “great steel as opposed to garbage steel, because they dump a lot of garbage around. You know, steel is like everything else, including human beings. Steel could be high quality, and it can be low quality. He wants to make sure it’s high quality.”

What Trump neglected to mention was he was apparently referring to ArcelorMittal, a Luxembourg-based firm, which is donating steel produced in Europe for the structure of the ballroom project, according to the Times.....

A White House official suggested it was a coincidence that the donation and the tariff exemption happened within a few days of each other. Of course, if Team Trump, which has long struggled with allegations of systemic corruption, believes it’s earned the benefit of the doubt, it’s mistaken.

[jmowreader]

11. That'll make it easier to install all the bugs Putin needs in it

True story: In the 1980s the United States decided to build a new embassy in Moscow, and they hired Soviet construction companies to build it. This wasn't the brightest idea we ever had because the Soviets bugged the place so thoroughly people were calling the building The Eight Story Microphone.

The replacement for it was built by American companies, and the materials were delivered from the US by the US Army. Every truck had two soldiers in it: one Army truck driver and one Russian-speaking Military Intelligence soldier armed with a loaded M-16 rifle.