“This will be here long after we’re gone,” Trump told reporters after signing a piece of the granite. “No matter what happens with the world, this is not moving.”
Trump unveils White House helipad project
President Trump says a new White House helipad with a presidential seal is underway, paid for by Sikorsky
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump literally put his signature on his latest augmentation for the White House, a granite helipad that he said could double as a cocktail lounge.
Million-year lifespan. Hand-carved lettering in the stone. Commemorative gold coins embedded in the surrounding concrete. Trump christened the new helipad as a significant enhancement that would stand the test of time.
“This will be here long after we’re gone,” Trump told reporters after signing a piece of the granite during an impromptu tour. “No matter what happens with the world, this is not moving. This will take any kind of shot.”
The helipad is part of Trump’s overhaul of the White House. Other enhancements include gilding the Oval Office, paving the Rose Garden and adding a 90,000-square-foot ballroom on the site where he demolished the East Wing.
Sikorsky Aircraft, which manufactures the helicopters known as Marine One when carrying the president, is paying an unspecified amount the White House estimated at $5 million for the helipad. The granite platform will be easier for pilots to land on than steel pads on the South Lawn, where more powerful engines tear up the grass, Trump said.
The goal is to finish the project by Sept. 21, a few days before China’s President Xi Jinping arrives for a meeting.
“Not imperative, but it would be very nice to have it done,” Trump said.
Trump said the white California granite could bear 35,000 pounds of pressure per square inch, which he said was much stronger than 5,000 pounds per square inch for concrete.
“Nature is stronger than what the human can produce,” Trump said. “That’s stone that if you took a hammer and you started hammering right now – all day long – you would not see what you hammered. You wouldn’t see a mark on it.”
Between the helipad and the White House, a granite plaza has been installed around the South Portico, replacing the asphalt driveway where foreign dignitaries such as King Charles III of the United Kingdom have arrived. The stone has permanent steel receptacles for stanchions used in rope lines.
“This will be much better for state arrivals,” Trump said. “They could have people go there for cocktails and then walk to the ballroom after that’s finished.”
The platform could be used for official receptions when not needed for helicopters. Trump said the helipad initially was sloped to allow rainfall to run off, but he insisted on raising it to nearly level, with a half-degree of slope.
“It was a slope for the rain, but I felt it was too much slope,” Trump said. “They had a slope that would have been for a waterfall, not for rain.”
Trump said the finished product reminded him of the Wollman Rink in New York City’s Central Park, which he renovated as a private developer in 1986.
The helipad has the seal of the United States carved on the surface. Letters were carved precisely within a tenth of an inch, Trump said. Gold commemorative coins will be embedded in concrete around the granite, he said.
The president signed the granite on the back of the eagle’s head in the seal. He invited a handful of contractors and military officials to sign, too.
“In theory, I don’t know if anyone’s ever going to see it again,” Trump said as he prepared to sign. “Maybe we should reverse it.”