Bill Maher and John Fetterman defend President Donald Trump’s planned White House ballroom and push back on criticism of its reported $1 billion cost. Maher argues that the project amounts to “couch money” for taxpayers, framing the controversy as misdirected. Fetterman similarly dismisses the backlash, characterizing it as “so stupid.” Both figures describe the criticism of the ballroom’s expense as exaggerated or poorly understood, while defending the decision to proceed with the construction. The comments appear in the context of debate over whether the project’s price tag is appropriate for public spending. The outlets report that the defense includes dismissive language toward those questioning the cost, but do not indicate that either Maher or Fetterman provides new detailed budget figures or alternate accounting. Overall, the reports focus on their public remarks responding to scrutiny of the ballroom’s cost and the framing of that scrutiny as not serious or not well grounded.