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President Donald Trump may have written the book on contract negotiation, but when it comes to the US embbady in Jerusalem, it seems like it's not going to happen. He would not get the market he wanted.
Documents filed in the official federal spending database show that the State Department has awarded $ 21.2 million to the Maryland-based Desurf Limak D & K to design and build an "expansion and safe upgrades" at the Embbady. These updates will be made at the old consular building in Jerusalem – the temporary location of the embbady.
"We will have it built very quickly and very inexpensively," President Trump said about the embbady in March while he was sitting next to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the oval office. "They placed an order in front of my office last week for a billion dollars, I said," A billion? What is it? "
"We are doing it now for about $ 250,000," said the president.
Ronen Zvulun / Reuters time, as many wondered when he confused the costs to change the consulate and the price for the construction of a new embbady. But President Trump doubled most of his claims at a press conference in April with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, raising her estimate for the renovation between $ 300,000 and $ 400,000.
"This is how the government works," Trump said. "They were going to spend a billion dollars and we are going to spend a lot less than half a million".
Although the total bill is not yet close to a billion dollars, the expenses accumulate. In addition to the $ 21.2 million allocated for the next phase of improvements, the government has already spent more than $ 300,000 for the first changes made to the former consular building before the opening of the Embbady in May.
A State Department official today told ABC News that President Trump's estimates took into account only the first phase of the changes to the former consular building, and not of this second cycle of renovation.
The 33-mile displacement of the Tel-Aviv embbady in Jerusalem escalated costs and controversy, provoking weeks of Palestinian protests and violent clashes with Israeli troops. Some world leaders, like Netanyahu, have hailed Trump's decision. Others said it would contribute to instability in the region and worsen the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, as both claim the city as their capital.
Previously, the United States and most other countries having diplomatic relations with Israel avoided prejudging any decision on the official status of the city by basing their operations in Tel Aviv. Formally recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel was one of Trump's election promises in 2016.
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