Hours after agunman stormed the White House Correspondents' Dinner, President Donald Trump stood at the White House podium and used the attack to demand faster construction of his disputed,privately funded White House ballroom complex, a £299 million ($400 million) infrastructure project currently tied up in federal courts.
Trump's response to Saturday's shooting at the Washington Hilton was swift in one direction. He argued it proved the White House needed a new, purpose-built venue with bulletproof glass, drone-proof roofing and a secure bunker beneath it.
He made no announcement of asecurity review of the existing event, no pledge to reform screening procedures at the Hilton and no commitment to investigate how a suspect armed with a shotgun, a handgun and multiple knives had reached the magnetometer checkpoint outside a ballroom holding the president, the vice president and senior Cabinet officials.
The ballroom Trump is championing is no modest renovation. The proposed structure would span 90,000 square feet, making it nearly as large as the entire existing White House complex. It would seat up to 999 guests and, according to Trump, be funded entirely by private donations. He has previously described it as a'great legacy project' modelled on Versailles and his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
The project has been the subject of active litigation since Trump ordered the rapid demolition of the East Wing last autumn without first seeking congressional authorisation. TheNational Trust for Historic Preservation filed suit in December, arguing that the administration had bypassed mandatory federal review commissions and congressional approval processes.
Last month, US District Judge Richard Leon ruled that construction could not continue without congressional sign-off, though he carved out a narrow exception for actions 'strictly necessary to ensure the safety and security of the White House.'
The Trump administration subsequently argued that the security exception effectively permitted unobstructed building, given that the ballroom's design is built around its protective features. Saturday's shooting, in the administration's framing, strengthened that argument considerably.
Unfortunately, the First Lady and I had to be evacuated from the White House Correspondents’ Dinner alongside the President and the entire cabinet.This event is yet another reason that President@realDonaldTrump’s ballroom should be built!
Trump's allies moved quickly to reinforce the point: Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry posted on X that the evacuation was 'yet another reason that President Trump's ballroom should be built.'
The White House has not confirmed whether any formal review of security procedures at the Washington Hilton has been initiated. That silence is notable, given that the dinner attracted approximately 2,600 attendees, including the president, the vice president, the Speaker of the House and multiple senior Cabinet figures.
Source: International Business Times UK
