WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is leveraging Saturday’s shooting incident at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner as ammunition in their fight to move forward with a controversial $400 million ballroom construction project at the White House.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche took to social media Sunday, declaring “It’s time to build the ballroom” while sharing correspondence that gave historic preservation advocates an ultimatum to abandon their legal challenge by Monday at 9 a.m.
Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate penned the letter to the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which has been fighting the construction in court. Shumate threatened that if the organization refuses to withdraw its lawsuit, the government will petition a judge to dismiss the case based on Saturday’s security incident.
The letter described the Washington Hilton, where Saturday’s media dinner took place, as “demonstrably unsafe” for presidential events, citing the venue’s size as creating “extraordinary security challenges for the Secret Service.”
According to Shumate’s correspondence, the proposed White House ballroom “will ensure the safety and security of the President for decades to come and prevent future assassination attempts on the President at the Washington Hilton.”
Elliot Carter, who speaks for the National Trust for Historic Preservation, indicated Sunday that the organization would examine the letter with their attorneys before responding.
The historic preservation organization filed their legal challenge in December, just one week after the White House completed tearing down the East Wing to clear space for Trump’s ballroom project, designed to accommodate 999 guests. While Trump claims private donors are funding the project, taxpayer money is covering bunker construction and security enhancements.
Saturday evening’s dinner drew 2,300 attendees to the Hilton, one of the few Washington venues capable of hosting such a large gathering. The event features tightly packed round tables with limited space for movement. The dinner operates independently of the White House, organized by the White House Correspondents’ Association, a journalist organization.
Trump has consistently promoted his ballroom project at various events over recent months, frequently referencing the ongoing lawsuit or expressing his vision for the new space. During Saturday night’s news conference with formally dressed reporters who had rushed from the Hilton to the White House, Trump advocated for enhanced security measures and cited the incident as justification for his ballroom proposal.
Following the shooting, Trump, Blanche, and various administration allies have seized the moment to advocate for the project through social media and television appearances. Ohio Representative Jim Jordan expressed complete agreement with Trump regarding the massive White House construction, stating on Fox News that it “obviously would be much safer location for these type of events.”
South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham posted on social media Sunday morning, supporting Trump’s position that the White House ballroom represents “a national security necessity” that would provide the Secret Service with “immense control over the security environment of future events with a very hardened facility.”
Some Democratic lawmakers have also voiced support. Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman, who was present at Saturday’s dinner, posted on social media that the proposed White House venue should host “events exactly like these.” Speaking on CNN Sunday, Fetterman described attendees and Americans as being in a “vulnerable” situation during Saturday’s gathering, partly because numerous officials in the presidential succession line were present and could have been injured.
When asked whether the incident might generate increased support for the White House project, Fetterman replied, “I certainly hope so.”
Historical records show that even the White House grounds have experienced security breaches over the past century, despite being largely closed to public access.
Multiple documented cases exist of individuals climbing security barriers surrounding the White House. In 2014, a troubled Army veteran armed with a knife jumped the perimeter fence and ran into the White House, reaching the East Room before proceeding down a State Floor corridor deep inside the residence.
A Department of Homeland Security investigation into that incident identified inadequate training, poor personnel decisions, and communication breakdowns as contributing factors to the security failure, which ultimately resulted in the Secret Service director’s resignation.
In 1994, a pilot perished when he crashed a stolen small aircraft onto the South Lawn, striking a tree and damaging a first-floor section of the building. Additionally, in 2009, uninvited guests Tareq and Michaele Salahi infiltrated a state dinner, bypassing security checkpoints and meeting President Barack Obama in an incident that triggered security reviews.
Legal proceedings have continued since December while construction work progresses, though recent complications have emerged.
Trump demolished the East Wing last fall to make room for the extensive ballroom in that location. The National Trust for Historic Preservation’s lawsuit contends that Trump exceeded his authority by proceeding with the project without securing proper approval from essential federal agencies and Congress.
Earlier this month, a federal appeals court permitted Trump to continue building the $400 million project, issuing their decision one day after a lower court judge maintained restrictions on above-ground construction and set a June 5 hearing date for case review. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon’s order prohibited above-ground work on the 90,000-square-foot ballroom addition while permitting only underground construction of bunker facilities and other “national security facilities” at the location.
During a Fox News appearance Sunday, Trump predicted that his project would reach completion by the end of his current presidential term.
“In the year ’28 you’re going to have something, you’re going to have a ballroom, the top of the line, security,” Trump stated. “You’re not going to have problems.”
