Hours after a gunman breached security at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, President Donald Trump's Justice Department handed the National Trust for Historic Preservation a blunt choice: drop your lawsuit against his £309 million ($400 million)White House ballroomby 09:00 Monday, or the government will move to end it in court.
Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate addressed the letter on Sunday 26 April 2026 to Greg Craig of Foley Hoag LLP, outside counsel for the National Trust, less than 24 hours aftershots were fired outside the ballroomat the Washington Hilton on the evening of 25 April.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche posted a copy of the letter on X alongside a four-word summary of the administration's position: 'It's time to build the ballroom.' The National Trust's spokesperson, Elliot Carter, said Sunday that the group would review the letter with legal counsel.
'Last night, there was another attempt on President Trump's life,'Shumate opened the letter, which was directed to Craig personally. 'This time, the shooter targeted President Trump at the Washington Hilton, the only ballroom in Washington, D.C. suitable to host large gatherings for the President, where another shooter targeted President Reagan 45 years ago.' Shumate described the Hilton as 'demonstrably unsafe' for presidential events, arguing its size 'presents extraordinary security challenges for the Secret Service.'
The letter's logic was direct. 'When the White House ballroom is complete, President Trump and his successors will no longer need to venture beyond the safety of the White House perimeter to attend large gatherings at the Washington Hilton ballroom,' Shumate wrote. His conclusion followed: 'Put simply, your lawsuit puts the lives of the President, his family, and his staff at grave risk.'
It’s time to build the ballroom.pic.twitter.com/cUMkVpehGY
He gave the National Trust until 09:00 Monday 27 April to notify the government of a voluntary dismissal. If the deadline passed without action, Shumate warned, the DOJ would move to dissolve the injunction and dismiss the case, and would record in its court filing that the National Trust had opposed the motion.
Blanche, on X, described the lawsuit as'the passing aesthetic gripe of a single person'who 'walks in the vicinity of the White House once a month and expects to dislike the East Wing's new design.' Shumate added in the letter: 'I hope yesterday's narrow miss will help you finally realize the folly of a lawsuit that literally serves no purpose except to stop President Trump no matter the cost. Enough is enough.' The president himself, in a Truth Social post earlier on Sunday, wrote that the lawsuit 'must be dropped, immediately,' hours before Blanche published Shumate's letter.
This lawsuit is on behalf of a single person who walks in the vicinity of the White House once a month and expects to dislike the East Wing’s new design. The passing aesthetic gripe of a single person cannot possibly justify delaying the construction of a secure facility for the…
One crucial fact contextualises the administration's security argument.The White House Correspondents' Association Dinner is not a White House event; it is run by the nonprofit White House Correspondents' Association. Attending is a presidential choice. Saturday's dinner was thefirst Trump had attendedduring either of his presidencies. The administration did not designate the event as a National Special Security Event, a classification that would have required a higher threshold of security measures, according to the Washington Post.
Source: International Business Times UK
