The White House is planning to add a helipad on the South Lawn, but unlike other construction projects launched under President Donald Trump, this one may not be as controversial, as it solves a long-standing issue with Marine One landings and takeoffs.
For decades, presidents have walked through the lush grass on the South Lawn to a waiting military helicopter — whose call sign changes to Marine One when the president is aboard — but the aircraft is set to be replaced by a new fleet with the potential to burn the ground during takeoff and landing.
A Sikorsky VH-92A Patriot craft is set to replace the VH-3D Sea King and VH-60N White Hawk helicopters, a fleet that has been carrying presidents on board since the late 1970s and 1980s, respectively. The VH-92A Patriot is equipped with upgraded speed and range capabilities, but also has powerful propulsion vents that direct exhaust downward.
Trump plans to build the helipad to prevent the powerful new helicopters from damaging the lawn, The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday.
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The VH-92A has not been deployed to the White House beyond testing the aircraft — though the Marine Corps does use the helicopters to transport the president outside of Washington. Currently, small, round rubber discs are placed on the South Lawn for the helicopter to land and lift off in order to avoid damaging the lawn.
“President Trump has continued to make improvements at the White House and all around D.C. to benefit future presidents and Americans,” White House spokesperson Davis Ingle told NOTUS, without confirming or denying the potential helipad addition.
The White House did not provide any details about the expected timeline for the construction, but the project could potentially break ground this summer.
“This is not a Trump wild idea,” one retired military officer told The Washington Post.
Adding a permanent helipad has been in discussion for years, the Journal reported. The cost and the procurement process for the construction of the helipad remains unclear, but the project comes amid intense backlash over projects like Trump’s proposed White House ballroom.
Senate Republicans attempted to attach $1 billion for the U.S. Secret Service in “security adjustments and upgrades” related to the construction of the ballroom to a reconciliation package — a move that was rejected by the Senate parliamentarian on Saturday. The provision was rejected under the Byrd rule, which prevents lawmakers from passing non-budgetary funding in the often massive reconciliation bills.
The Palm Beach Town Council approved the construction of a new helipad at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club in October, after the president’s first helipad was demolished in 2021 at the end of his first term.
The potential helipad construction on the South Lawn follows a series of Trump-backed demolition projects at the White House, including the Rose Garden, where he replaced the lawn with a stone patio, and the Lincoln Bedroom, where the president replaced the 1940s green title in the bathroom with black-and-white marble.
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