President Donald Trump revealed Monday that Sikorsky Aircraft will finance the full cost of a new granite helicopter landing pad on the White House South Lawn fit for the next-generation presidential fleet.
Trump announced the project from the Oval Office, noting how the VH-92A helicopters delivered in 2024 have damaged the lawn during landings. He said Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin subsidiary that builds aircraft, felt responsible for failing to fully convey the helicopters’ power.
“They didn’t tell us how powerful these helicopters were, and they felt a little bit guilty,” Trump said.
The president said the new helicopters are approximately 2.5 times more powerful than the older models, which are still deployed for White House operations. Their downward exhaust has caused damage to the South Side lawn.
“When you land on the grass, it’s not that the grass gets discolored, it gets ripped out, ripped out,” Trump said.
He recalled episodes of the helicopter throwing grass across the South Lawn, including in front of the Oval Office entrance. The power has also burned portions of the turf, the president said.
Trump described the situation as a planning mistake that no one anticipated when the new fleet was ordered.
“For 50 years, we’ve been landing helicopters on grass. The grass is wet, soggy,” he said, noting that crews traditionally laid down a metal plate and Marines would march out to mark the spot. The new aircraft’s power was too much for that system.
Officials have depended on the older VH-3D helicopters, some of which have been used since 1978 for landings at the White House. The newer fleet has been used for other missions.
Trump said he suggested a permanent helipad during a meeting with military generals.
“I said, ‘Has anybody ever thought of a helipad?’ Because I build them and they go quickly and solves all of the problems,” Trump recalled telling the generals.
He compared the straightforward solution to the invention of the paperclip—an idea so simple that people later wondered why no one had thought of it sooner.
Sikorsky will pay for the entire estimated $5 million to $6 million cost of the project. Trump said that once he learned the company would cover the costs, he directed that the design be upgraded from basic painted concrete.
“When I heard they were paying the cost, I went out and said, ‘Let’s do a beauty.’ Let’s not just do a piece of concrete and paint it white,” Trump said.
The finished pad will include the White House seal carved into granite by skilled artisans, Trump noted.
“It’s got the seal of the White House on it in granite, in carved granite,” Trump said. “It’s really a beautiful thing.”
He described the material’s durability.
“You’re landing on granite, which is the strongest stone that we can,” Trump said, adding that “it’s 35,000 pounds per square inch.”
“It’s got a 1-million-plus lifetime. It’s the strongest stone there is.”
Trump said the pad’s size and surface will allow it to serve additional purposes when helicopters are not landing, including outdoor news conferences and other events.
Construction crews began work on the South Lawn this month.
The contribution is being routed through the Trust for the National Mall, a nonprofit organization affiliated with the National Park Service. Lockheed Martin confirmed the arrangement in a statement.
“This specific contribution was made to the Trust for the National Mall, the National Park Service’s non-profit organization,” the company said.
Lockheed Martin added that its dealings with the federal government follow strict standards.
“Our engagement with the federal government is guided by rigorous ethics and compliance standards and conducted in full accordance with all applicable laws and regulations,” the statement said.
Trump said the new helipad will finally allow retirement of the aging helicopter fleet.
“By doing this, we solve the problem, and we'll be able to finally retire 45-year-old helicopters,” he said.
The VH-92A aircraft were designed to ensure improved performance and payload capacity for presidential transport. Marine One is the call sign used when the president is aboard any aircraft in the fleet.
