Trump is building a helipad with ‘carved granite’ White House seal to handle new presidential choppers

Summary

President Donald Trump said Monday that he’s building a granite helipad on the White House lawn, insisting that the landing area is needed to accommodate new, more powerful presidential choppers. Confirmation of the project came as construction crews had already begun working on the helipad on the South Lawn, where the president had UFC build a temporary arena for a cage fight celebrating his 80th birthday. He said the project would be privately funded and estimated its cost at up to $6 million. “It’s got the seal of the White House on it in granite, in carved granite,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “It’s really a beautiful thing.” The Republican president did not offer details on how long the work would take. It is the latest major construction project he has overseen in an effort to increasingly mold the White House in his own image. Some of Trump’s major White House construction projects have relied on public money, even when the president initially suggested otherwise. Still, Trump said Sikorsky Aircraft, a subsidiary of defense contracting giant Lockheed Martin , would be paying for the helipad. Asked about the cost of the project and a timeline for its completion, Lockheed Martin responded with a statement reading in part: “This specific contribution was made to the National Park Service” and “conducted in full accordance with all applicable laws and regulations.” In 2024, Sikorsky completed a new fleet of helicopters for use as Marine One, and President Joe Biden took the first flight aboard a modern VH-92A Patriot helicopter on his way to the Democratic National Convention in Chicago — the same day the military announced Sikorsky delivered the last of the 23 new aircraft. A Sikorsky spokesperson said Monday that the new helicopters deliver “increased performance and reduced maintenance costs and time.” But Trump said the newer aircraft were more powerful than Vietnam War-era choppers that long had been used as Marine One, and the modern ones were too potent to land on the White House lawn without damaging the grass. “It’s not that the grass gets discolored — it gets ripped out,” the president said. Indeed, the new helicopters have seen limited service because their exhaust vents aim heat downward, scorching the White House South Lawn. The Marines and Sikorsky have spent years trying to find a solution to the problem, which has meant that the new helicopters haven’t been used at the White House.