President Donald Trump on Sunday renewed his calls for construction to continue on the planned White House ballroom.
Trump and members of his Cabinet were evacuated from the White House Correspondents’ Dinner at the Washington Hilton hotel in Washington, D.C., on Saturday night after multiple gunshots were heard by attendees. The shooter was “taken down” by U.S. Secret Service agents, Trump said after the event.
“What happened last night is exactly the reason that our great Military, Secret Service, Law Enforcement and, for different reasons, every President for the last 150 years, have been DEMANDING that a large, safe, and secure Ballroom be built ON THE GROUNDS OF THE WHITE HOUSE,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “This event would never have happened with the Militarily Top Secret Ballroom currently under construction at the White House. It cannot be built fast enough!”
Trump was invited as an honoree to the annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner, which is a privately held function. If a ballroom were to be constructed on the grounds of the White House, it likely would not host private events.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation in the United States is suing the Trump administration to block construction of the planned $400 million, 90,000-square-foot ballroom on the site of the White House’s former East Wing, which was demolished to make room for the project.
