President Donald Trump said Sikorsky is paying for a new granite-accented helipad on the White House South Lawn after airflow from the new presidential helicopters damaged the grass.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
President Donald Trump said Monday that construction is underway on a new White House helipad designed to address damage caused by the latest fleet of presidential helicopters.
The helipad is being built on the South Lawn, the area where presidents and their families have long walked across the grass to board and exit Marine One.
Trump described the project as both functional and decorative, saying the new landing site will include the White House seal carved in granite.
“So now we’re building a helipad, beautiful helipad, and it’s got the seal of the White House on it — in granite, carved granite, it’s… really a beautiful thing,” Trump told reporters.
The project is intended to solve problems connected to the new Sikorsky-built presidential helicopters. Trump said the aircraft do more than scorch the grass with exhaust. He said the force of the airflow can tear up the lawn.
“So they landed the helicopter, and half of the grass was sitting in front of the Oval Office front door. The rest of it was scattered all over,” Trump said.
Trump said Sikorsky agreed to cover the cost of the helipad because the company felt “a little guilty” about the lawn damage.
“It’s about $5 or $6 million — they’re paying the full cost, and when I heard they were paying the cost, I went out and said, ‘let’s do a beauty, let’s not just do a piece of concrete and paint it white,’” Trump said.
The Washington Post reported that the project is expected to cost at least $13 million when related renovations to the South Portico and nearby driveway are included.
The contractor has been asked to move quickly so the work can be completed before an upcoming state visit, apparently that of Chinese President Xi Jinping in September, according to the report.
The helipad is one of several White House changes Trump has personally directed. A larger and more controversial project is also underway: the addition of a massive ballroom.
That project has involved the demolition of the historic East Wing and has triggered a legal dispute over whether major alterations to the White House can proceed without congressional approval.
Trump addressed the lawsuits while speaking later in the Rose Garden, which he has redesigned into a patio-style space similar to his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
“In this world we’re living, especially if your name is Trump, you get sued,” he said.
Trump also claimed the lawsuit revealed the existence of what he described as a top-secret “tremendous military center” being built beneath the ballroom.
The president has also suggested possible changes to the White House’s North Portico columns. The roughly 200-year-old columns are Ionic in style, while Trump has shown preference for the more ornate Corinthian style.
The North Portico columns have recently been covered with scaffolding. Over the weekend, Trump posted apparent architectural mock-ups showing Corinthian-style columns with lions’ heads on the White House.
The helipad project adds another visible change to the White House grounds as Trump continues to reshape parts of the executive mansion and its surrounding spaces during his second term.
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