Trump Builds Secret Bunker Under Ballroom as Protests Scare Him

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2:13Ben Meiselas:I don't want us to miss these connections staring us in the face, Donald Trump being terrified of protesters and what's going on with the East Wing demolition to make way for this golden ballroom since the East Wing stood above a bunker that was below ground meant to withstand a nuclear attack. and we know that the bunker is now being renovated. So I want to bring these connections together in a way that you're not going to hear anywhere else. So let's just bring these connections together. And I'll explain to you that there's much more than meets the surface in Donald Trump tearing down the East Wing of the White House to make way for a golden ballroom, which he says he's now raised$350 million of funds from private individuals and corporations to build that golden ballroom.

3:07Ben Meiselas:A lot of it has to do as well with the fact that they're renovating the bunker underneath. Now, CBS reported, and it was kind of hidden in their reporting like it wasn't prominently placed, that the military is rebuilding the bunker as well. And I think that's important to note, especially as we look for historical models of authoritarians. You know, Hitler rebuilt the Reich Chancellery to glorify himself. And many are saying this could be like the new Reich Chancellery right here. As Mark McDonald said, there's a bunker underneath the east wing of the White House. And by sheer coincidence, Adolf Hitler added on to the Reich Konsly by building a ballroom above the Vorbunker in 1936, the area to the right.

4:00Ben Meiselas:So Hitler said that he was doing the ballroom, but it was used to really build the bunker. So let me bring all of these connections together. And I'm going to show you video evidence as well, because you may remember a clip I showed you earlier in the week where Donald Trump said that the military was involved in the construction of the East Wing? That's odd. Why would the military be involved? And then do you remember there was another clip I played where Donald Trump said that a private individual gave$130 million to the military to help build things related to shortfalls? Why would a private individual be giving$130 million to the military?

4:43Ben Meiselas:And Trump says the military is involved in the East Wing of the White House, the demolition and the building of this ballroom. And then it was originally supposed to cost$200 million. And now Trump says it costs$350 million. So let's put these connections together. Let's do it logically. And I'll give you my opinion of what's going down. And you can give me your opinion, but let's focus on the data. So there was this article from Axios right here. Trump's run-in with D.C. protesters still haunts his team. This article talks about how last month, on September 9th, there was this incident at Joe's Seafood restaurant in Washington, D.C., right by the White House.

5:28Ben Meiselas:Remember, Trump went there and said, I'm going to show you how safe these restaurants are. I'm going to show you how great D.C. is because Trump's never been to a D.C. restaurant in his life. So he shows up to Joe's and there are protesters from the organization Code Pink. They say that Donald Trump is committing a genocide. They start protesting him. They call him a killer. And the Secret Service really didn't do anything. I mean, those protesters got really close to him. And that's made Donald Trump really paranoid. How did they know that I was going to be here? Did somebody tip them off? It was supposed to be a secret trip.

6:06Ben Meiselas:Now, the Code Pink protesters say they heard rumors that he was going to a restaurant nearby. And by process of elimination, they guessed that it was going to be Joe's. It's a fancy restaurant, nice restaurant near the White House. So they assumed it was going to be that one. But Trump's getting incredibly paranoid about all of these protests, including the No Kings protests, which he's now constantly saying, oh, that was such a small event. It's the biggest protest in the history of the United States. and Donald Trump, I think, sees that these protests are growing and growing and how unpopular it's getting for him, which is why he wants a bunker for himself when he engages in further authoritarian acts.

6:50Ben Meiselas:It's bunker boy. He wants to be in the bunker. So let me make these connections just to remind you, here are the protesters chanting at Trump at the restaurant at Joe's back on September 9th. Let me show you this clip. Let's play it.

7:24Ben Meiselas:Now, here's another clip of a panicked Trump, and you'll see the protesters there, and then Trump asks for the protesters to be removed from Joe's on September 9th. And you can see how, like how terrified he is that they're there. Let's play this clip right here.

7:46Okay.

7:50Ben Meiselas:So we know he's terrified of that. I'll show you a clip in a little bit where Donald Trump says that he'd like to see those protesters arrested. He thinks what they did is criminal. But now I want to move to the bunker underneath the ballroom. I want to talk about that. So over the past week, Donald Trump's held a number of press conferences that we covered. And you may recall when Donald Trump, kind of out of nowhere when he was showing the designs, said the military is very much involved in the ballroom. Did that strike you as odd when he said that? It struck me as I needed to dig deeper and do this research, which I did to then determine, ah, the bunker underneath.

8:37Ben Meiselas:That's what's really going on here. It's all about the bunker, which is actually called the Presidential Emergency Operations Center. More on that in a moment. Here's Donald Trump saying the military is very much involved in this. Let's play that clip right now. We're also working with the military on it because they want to make sure everything's perfect. And the military is very much involved in this. They want to make sure everything is absolutely beautiful. You can see the kind of interiors that we're talking about. That's an interior of the ballroom. And it's the highest level. And you see, it goes beautifully with the White House.

9:12I mean, the mix is beautiful. So over the years, many presidents have made changes. This obviously would be the biggest change. but this was something they wanted for at least 150 years.

9:24Ben Meiselas:Okay, so you heard Donald Trump say this. Now, here he talks about how a friend of his called the other day and said they wanted to contribute$130 million that goes to the military. Now, I also want you to watch the face of Pete Hegseth, Kristi Noem, Pam Bondi, his chief of staff, Susan Wiles, as Donald Trump talks about this number that a friend gave him,$130 million. So the ballroom was gonna cost$200 million, which you said all private funds were gonna pay for. We're gonna be paid for by private funds. Now you're saying it's$350 million and a private donor is giving$130 million to the military?

10:10Ben Meiselas:Why? It sounds like you're trying to hide what that money is going to. But here, play this clip. In the next couple of days, a lot of Americans are gonna go without their first full paychecks federal workers by the way a man a friend of mine talking about donors a friend of mine a man that's great i'm not going to use his name unless he lets me do it uh susie can tell you about this but he was uh he called us the other day and he said i'd like to contribute any shortfall you have because of the democrat shutdown uh i'd like to contribute personally contribute any shortfall you have with the military because i love the military and i I love the country.

10:45And any shortfall, if there's a shortfall, I'll contribute it. And today he sent us a check for$130 million. Do you share with us? I would love to tell you. He deserves, he doesn't really want the recognition, if you want to know the truth. But he gave us a check for$130 million. And that's going to go to the military? Which was sort of a shortfall, yeah. And that's going to go to the military, yeah. And once you're asking... Is that the correct number? 130 million dollars that's what i call a patriot okay thank you very much everybody thank you thank you we've all been there you get blood work done wait a week and the doctor says everything looks fine maybe they tell you to drink more water or get some exercise but there's no breakdown of your hormones no insights into inflammation toxins or nutrient deficiencies just vague advice and a quick send-off superpower is a completely different experience it's a new kind of preventive care more comprehensive more personalized and you can do it all from home here's how it works One blood draw, 60 labs, and a complete look into what's going on inside your body.

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12:57Ben Meiselas:So, you know, then I looked at this CBS article, which talks about how the cost of the Golden Ballroom, which was 200, now is 300 million, although Trump says he raised$350 million. And when you read this article, what it says is the following. The bunker under the East Wing will also be upgraded, sources told CBS News. The White House military office is handling the renovation of the bunker, which is known as the President's Emergency Operations Center. So are the private donors paying for the bunker underneath where the East Wing one stood? Or is that coming out of taxpayer dollars, even though Trump says that taxpayers are not paying anything?

13:48Ben Meiselas:Sounds like taxpayers are paying or that some rich donor is funding the bunker as Donald Trump gets more paranoid about these protesters. Let's talk briefly about the Presidential Emergency Operations Center. It was first constructed by FDR during World War II in the event the White House was targeted by missiles and rocket attacks. It was reinforced over a number of years thereafter to be able to withstand a nuclear attack purportedly. You see some photos here. It has its own air filtration systems and power systems in case there were to be an attack. And really one of the first times we saw photos of the Presidential Emergency Operations Center was right during 9-11 when George W.

14:41Bush was taken away in the airplane and Dick Cheney and the George W.

14:47Ben Meiselas:Bush cabinet was operating out of the Presidential Emergency Operations Center. You see these photos right here of it. So that's what was underneath the East Wing. That's what's being renovated. That's what's being upgraded or changed right now. Now, you take a look at historical examples of authoritarians being paranoid at their own people with their authoritarian ambitions of staying in power forever. You need not look any further than Adolf Hitler. Hitler rebuilt the Reich Chancellery to glorify himself. Seems like Trump is doing the same with the White House. In 1930s Berlin, it took Hitler six years to build a marble monument to his power.

15:35Ben Meiselas:In 2025, Washington, Trump bulldozed the East Wing in days to erect a 90 ,000-square-foot ballroom, nearly twice the size of the White House itself. No reviews, no public input, no shame. Both men used architecture to project dominance, but Trump's monument to ego is rising in the very place meant to symbolize democracy. As George Conway posts, the new Reich Chancellery, new Reich Chancellery, and he shows what it looked like. Berlin, 1939, the reception hall, the main dining hall, the entrance office of the Fuhrer with SS guards, the office of the Fuhrer. And as Mark McDonald points out, a historical lesson here is necessary, right?

16:15Ben Meiselas:The bunker under the East Wing that's now being developed under the pretext of a ballroom is being built. Remember, Adolf Hitler added on to the Reich Kansli by building a ballroom above the Vordbunker in 1936, the area to the right. Hitler said ballroom, bunker underneath. Trump is saying, focus on the ballroom as his ambitions are to not leave. I'm saying we should also be focused on the bunker underneath as well. And that's why you bring these connections together with Trump being terrified of protesters, terrified of the no Kings protests. I think what the ballroom signifies, both the fact that he's building a 90 ,000 square foot ballroom, ripping down the East wing of the White House, is that he doesn't want to leave.

17:09Ben Meiselas:You don't build a ballroom if you intend to leave your term. But he's also building the bunker, I think, as a way to deal with his paranoia that if the protests get too close, he's got a bunker where he's going to go into hiding. Remember, we called him bunker boy during his first administration. So remember going back to Trump being terrified of those protesters at Joe's Seafood Restaurant. On September 18th, Trump was asked about the women that were protesting. Should they serve jail time for protesting you? And Trump suggested that they should serve jail time. Here, play this clip right here.

17:49Mr. President, you said earlier this week that the women who yelled at you were protesting when you were at Joe Stone Crab should be in jail. Do you actually think that that is an offense that deserves jail time? I don't know how they got in there, but certainly I thought it was very inappropriate. And they said things that were very, and it was a question of, would you take a look at the way they acted, the way they behaved? Yeah, I think they were a threat. What's your talk? Do you agree with it? I think they're a nasty organization. But you think they deserve real? Well, I don't know.

18:22Ben Meiselas:And Trump has continuously been obsessed with the No Kings protesters and saying it was a garbage weekend. The crowds were not big at all. In fact, the crowds were small. Who's making all of these signs for them? The signs look too good. They're too professional. Here, play this clip right here. Like even that garbage deal they had this weekend, which was embarrassing to them. And the crowds were much more. The crowds were not big. Those crowds were not big at all. But when you look at signs and they're all made beautifully, the yellow signs. I saw the yellows, the blues, but they're all made professionally in a printing shop.

19:03Looks like on Madison Avenue someplace. Some guy is paying for all that stuff.

19:09Ben Meiselas:So I encourage you all when there is a story to dig deeper as well, to look beneath the surface, sometimes quite literally. And I think it becomes obvious. And I think a question that needs to be asked by reporters right now as well is, this is how I'd ask the question, are the private donors also funding the renovation of the bunker underneath the East Wing? Or is that being paid for by taxpayer dollars? It's important. Are we paying? Are we the people paying for the bunker to be rebuilt? is that private donor who gave$130 million, did this individual pay for the bunker? And who is the type of private individual who we know pays that type of money?

19:58Ben Meiselas:We know that the Adelsons have written him checks before to do things like that. Is it Bezos? Who is the individual who would write that check? Someone like a Musk, a Bezos, whoever. I mean, a Zuckerberg. What's going on there? I think it's important that with this video, we frame the question. I think I brought the connections together, persuasively, I hope. And let's continue this conversation. Hit subscribe. Let's get to 6 million.

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