Trump campaign sets up Election Day war room in executive building

President Trump’s campaign is setting up a war room in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building next to the White House to monitor developments on Election Day.

The arrangement is the latest example of Trump muddying the lines between the federal government and his campaign, though officials insisted that the set up did not run afoul of ethics rules.

“The war room needed to be in close proximity to the president and there is no expense whatsoever to American taxpayers for the use of a room in the EEOB, where events like prayer services and receptions for outside groups frequently occur,” campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh said in a statement.

“Every piece of equipment, including WiFi and computers, was paid for by the campaign, and no White House staff is involved,” he added. “The arrangement has been approved by White House counsel.”

Top campaign officials are expected to work out of the office building located adjacent to the White House into the night on Tuesday as results come in. Trump visited his campaign headquarters in Arlington, Va., on Tuesday morning for a meeting with advisers and to get an update on the state of play in key battleground states.

Tens of millions of Americans already voted prior to Election Day, and the campaign is hoping that in-person turnout on Tuesday is enough to boost Trump in Arizona, Florida, Pennsylvania and elsewhere.

The campaign bringing its operation to the White House is the latest instance of the president mixing the two.

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany has appeared on TV multiple times as a “Trump 2020 campaign adviser,” including Tuesday morning when she declared the president would defeat Democratic nominee Joe Biden in a landslide.

Senior White House adviser Stephen Miller and National Economic Council Chairman Larry Kudlow both phoned into Trump campaign calls to tout the president’s agenda on immigration and the economy, respectively, saying they were acting in their personal capacity.

National security adviser Robert O’Brien last week visited Wisconsin and Minnesota, two battleground states that Trump is spending significant resources targeting and could be critical to his reelection.

And Trump, who delivered his Republican National Convention speech from the South Lawn of the White House, is expected to host a party in the East Room on Tuesday night with administration and campaign officials and supporters.