U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D‑N.Y.) on Oct. 1 criticized what her office called more than $1.8 billion in President Trump’s so‑called “vanity projects,” saying the money could pay for programs such as school lunches, veterans’ medical care and utility bills.
Gillibrand spoke during a virtual press conference and released calculations based on a Joint Economic Committee report that estimate the projects — which the release lists to include construction of a White House ballroom and a no‑bid contract to repaint the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool, among others — would cost more than $1.8 billion. The release also contrasts that figure with more than $40 billion cited as spending related to the war with Iran.
Her office highlighted possible alternative uses for roughly $1.8 billion, including paying for hundreds of millions of school lunches, the medical costs for tens of thousands of veterans for a year, or electric bills for millions of people for a month. “The president of the United States is supposed to serve the American people, not the other way around,” the senator said in the release.
Gillibrand also noted legislative action she has proposed: the so‑called HUMBLE Act, which would bar a sitting president from using their name, image, likeness or signature to decorate federal property, assets or currency — legislation her office says would address some forms of self‑promotion on public property.
The assertions and calculations in the senator’s release are drawn from the Joint Economic Committee report cited by her office; the release also cites additional documents and articles to support specific examples and costs.
What we have: a dated (Oct. 1, 2026) press release from Sen. Gillibrand’s office, a linked Joint Economic Committee report used as the basis for the cost estimates, and an attached office graphic (logo).
