A $253,000 government contract funded by the Executive Office of the President was awarded for a "lighting project" on the two-lane bowling alley in the basement of the White House's Eisenhower Executive Office Building, according to federal procurement data. President Trump has not spoken publicly about an interest in bowling, and a White House spokesman said that Mr. Trump was not involved in the project. The spokesman said the bowling alley project would cover standard upkeep and fixing broken lights, and added that the alley had hosted nearly 10,000 guests over the last year.

Charles Mann Enterprises, the Washington-based construction management firm contracted for the project, did not respond to requests for comment. Its founder, Charles Mann, is a three-time Super Bowl champion who played a decade for the Washington Redskins. The firm has received at least $3 million in recent federal contracts for work that has included fixing a roof and an air-conditioning system. An additional $878,000 contract was awarded to Charles Mann Enterprises for a "studio project" in the same basement as the bowling alley.

A rebuild of the aging bowling lanes was proposed in 2014 under President Barack Obama, but the project was swiftly nixed after Republicans criticized any use of public funding for the exclusive lanes. The two-lane bowling alley was first installed in the White House's basement in 1947 during the sport's midcentury boom, paid for by a group of Missourians as a 63rd birthday present to President Harry S. Truman. President Richard M. Nixon built a separate one-lane bowling alley underneath the White House in 1973.