Donald Trump has claimed that the 'terrifying'shooting at the White House Correspondents' Dinnerin Washington on Saturday 25 April shows he was right to demolish the East Wing and press ahead with a $400 million White House ballroom project, arguing the main keyword 'White House ballroom' would have prevented the attack.
Gunfire broke out at the Washington Hilton, where the annual dinner was being held with senior politicians, journalists and members of the US government's line of succession in attendance. The incident has reignited a months‑long fight in Washington over Trump's decision to tear down the White House's East Wing to build a vast, high‑security, 90,000‑square‑foot ballroom on the presidential grounds, a project already mired in legal challenges and historic preservation concerns.
Posting on his Truth Social platform the morning after the shooting, the 79‑year‑old president framed the incident as validation of his long‑standing push for a secure White House ballroom.
🚨DROP THE LAWSUIT!“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…pic.twitter.com/8O1sVlbjdP
'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 Sunday 26 April.
He went further, insisting the attack 'would never have happened with the Militarily Top Secret Ballroom currently under construction at the White House.'
While praising the design as 'beautiful,' Trump stressed that the planned White House ballroom would have 'every highest level security feature there is,' with no guest rooms above it 'for unsecured people to pour in,' and that it would sit inside the secure perimeter of the White House complex.
The argument is simple enough. In Trump's telling, had the dinner been held inside his fortified ballroom rather than a downtown hotel, a gunman would not have been able to get close. That is a claim, not a proven fact, but it is already seeping into political talking points.
Trump then turned his fire on the legal action that has stalled the project.
'Theridiculous Ballroom lawsuit, brought by a woman walking her dog, who has absolutely No Standing to bring such a suit, must be dropped, immediately,' he wrote, adding that 'Nothing should be allowed to interfere with its construction, which is on budget and substantially ahead of schedule!!!'
Source: International Business Times UK
