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Trump building granite helipad on White House South Lawn

President Donald Trump walks over to Marine One after landing in Air Force One on July 03, 2026 at Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump confirmed on Monday that he is constructing a granite helipad for Marine One on the White House South Lawn, and said it will be paid for by Sikorsky Aircraft, a subsidiary of Lockheed Martin, which makes helicopters that transport the president.

“So, now we’re building a helipad, a beautiful helipad, and it’s got the seal of the White House on it, in granite, in carved granite. It’s really a beautiful thing,” Trump said while taking reporter questions at an event in the Oval Office. 

Trump said Sikorsky would pay for the construction.

“It’s about $5 or $6 million. They’re paying the full cost,” the president said.

A Lockheed Martin spokesperson, in a statement provided to ABC News, said the company “has a long history of supporting projects” in Washington, D.C., and across the country.

“This specific contribution was made to the Trust for the National Mall, the National Park Service’s non-profit organization,” the spokesperson said. “Our engagement with the federal government is guided by rigorous ethics and compliance standards and conducted in full accordance with all applicable laws and regulations.”

Lockheed Martin delivered a new fleet of Sikorsky helicopters to the Air Force in 2024, but the White House has had to keep using an older fleet for South Lawn departures and arrivals because they burn the grass. Trump on Monday said the helicopters not only singed the grass but also “ripped it out.”

The newer helicopters have been used when the president is away on travel.

A spokesperson for Sikorsky said in a statement that the new helicopter, a VH‑92A Patriot, “is a recognizable patriotic asset known around the globe for safety, security and reliability.”

The U.S. Navy awarded Sikorsky Aircraft a $1.24 billion contract to replace the Marine One helicopter fleet. The deal was agreed to under President Barack Obama’s administration.

“It brings increased capabilities for the no‑fail mission supporting the Commander‑in‑Chief around the world. The helicopter delivers increased performance and reduced maintenance costs and time over the current fleet of presidential helicopters,” the Sikorsky spokesperson said.

The helipad will be Trump’s latest construction project at the White House.

The East Wing was demolished last year to make way for construction of Trump’s massive White House ballroom. The ballroom addition has sparked numerous legal challenges.

Trump installed plaques underneath portraits of presidents at the White House — dubbed the “Presidential Walk of Fame” — along the West Wing Colonnade.

He also paved over the grass at the White House Rose Garden to create a patio with tables, and installed two massive flagpoles on the North and South lawns. More recently, scaffolding was erected for restoration work on the building’s stone columns.

Trump commented on the work while hosting a lunch at the new Rose Garden Club.

“A lot of love is being put in the White House,” the president said.

ABC News’ Alexandra Hutzler contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Kennedy Center board votes to restore Trump’s name on building

The Kennedy Center's board of trustees voted Thursday to add President Trump's name to the facade of the performing arts center, more than two months after a judge ordered its removal, according to a House Democrat who sits on the center's board.  The board — which Mr. Trump filled with his allies — chose to add the phrase "Restored and Renovated By President Donald J. Trump" to the end of the center's formal name, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty of Ohio and her lawyers said in a statement. Beatty said the board also voted to close the center for two years. Mr. Trump phoned in for part of the virtual board meeting, according to two people familiar with the matter. The vote marks a second attempt to put the president's name on the outside of the building, after U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper ruled in May that a decision to rename the center after both Kennedy and Mr. Trump violated the federal law that created the organization. Cooper also blocked the center from moving forward with a plan to close until 2028 for renovations, though the cultural institution had said it was still considering a partial or full closure.Cooper issued his order in response to a lawsuit from Beatty. On Thursday, the congresswoman called the latest move "a transparent effort to circumvent the Court's ruling, and flies in the face of the statutes that Congress passed." "Today's vote is more of the same, and a show of blatant disrespect to the courts," two of Beatty's attorneys, Norm Eisen and Nathaniel Zelinsky, wrote in the statement. "The court already ruled against the board when it bowed to Trump's demands. Now, the defendants must answer for their actions—again—in court." The proposal to put the president's name on the outside of the building was not on the formal agenda for the meeting and was raised toward the end, a person familiar with the gathering said. Democratic board members, including Beatty, complained that the proposal wasn't presented in writing ahead of a vote, the person said.Mr. Trump spoke toward the end of Thursday's board meeting, telling members he listened to the duration of the more than two-hour session, one person familiar with the meeting told CBS News. The president noted that other D.C.-area renovation projects backed by his administration were not taxpayer-funded, and added at one point that the Kennedy Center garage was "falling apart," the person said.White House spokesperson Liz Huston said: "Under President Trump's bold leadership, the Kennedy Center is on its way to becoming the finest cultural institution anywhere in the world." The White House did not have any immediate comment on the president's participation in the board meeting.CBS News has reached out to the Kennedy Center for comment. Since returning to office last year, the president has sought to put his stamp on the Kennedy Center, replacing board members with longtime supporters who elected him chair of the organization. The changes to the center have drawn backlash from performers and congressional Democrats, leading some artists to cancel their appearances. Then, late last year, the board voted to rename the organization as "The John F. Kennedy and The Donald J. Trump Memorial Center for the Performing Arts," which the center framed as a way of recognizing Mr. Trump's efforts to revamp the center. The president's name was then placed above Kennedy's name on the building's stone facade. Workers erect scaffolding in front of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts after a judge ordered President Trump's name be removed, on June 12, 2026. AP Photo/Rahmat Gul The board also voted in March to shut down for two years, arguing the building was in need of sweeping renovations. Beatty sued over the changes, arguing the board doesn't have the authority to temporarily shutter the Kennedy Center or change its name without permission from Congress. Her lawyers noted that the center's name — and its role as a memorial to Kennedy — are enshrined in federal law, and the board is legally required to ensure that "no additional memorials or plaques" are installed on the site. Cooper, an Obama-appointed judge, sided with Beatty in late May, ruling: "Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it." He also said the decision to shut down all operations during the center's renovations was based on "an insufficient, one-sided presentation of information," and the board "neglected to consider the full range of its statutory obligations and potential adverse consequences of closure." The metallic letters that spelled out Mr. Trump's name were then removed from the building overnight on June 13, after an appeals court declined to step in at the last minute and allow the name to stay up. Two months later, the scaffolding and tarp that were placed in front of the building to remove the lettering are still up.  Mr. Trump responded to Cooper's ruling by sharply criticizing the judge — arguing he should be impeached — and vowing to cut off his involvement with the Kennedy Center. "So now, the Kennedy Center will collapse, both structurally and financially," the president wrote on Truth Social in May.
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