Donald Trump lashed out at a reporter who pressed him about the budget for the White House ballroom renovation on Tuesday (12 May). The president was departing for his trip to China when reporters asked him about the project. The White House had initially pegged the cost of the ballroom at $200m. Trump later claimed it had gone up to $400m “after deep rooted studies” and decisions to double the size of the project and build it at “a far higher quality than the original proposal.” On Tuesday, Trump claimed the ballroom was “under budget.” When a reporter pointed out that the budget had doubled, Trump snapped: “ I doubled the size of it, you dumb person. “You are not a smart person.”