Trump Says Gala Attack Shows Security Need for His Ballroom (1)

President Donald Trump jumped on Saturday night’s shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner to add a security rationale to his case for building a massive White House ballroom that he has wanted for years.

“The one good thing is now everybody knows how badly needed it is,” Trump said Sunday on Fox News.

Trump, who has been frustrated by the legal challenges to his $400 million construction project, said at a Saturday night news conference and again on Sunday that security concerns are a key reason behind his proposed 90,000-square-foot space.

President Donald Trump with Todd Blanche, acting US attorney general, left, and Markwayne Mullin, secretary of the US Department of Homeland Security, right, during a news conference at the White House on Saturday night.

Photographer: Yuri Gripas/Abaca/Bloomberg

The press dinner is a mainstay of the Washington social calendar and is planned by the White House Correspondents’ Association, a private organization. The ballroom, if it is built, would be used for state dinners and other presidential events planned by the White House, not outside organizations.

But Trump did not mention that distinction in his post or comments about the project.

“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 Sunday on his Truth Social platform.

There is no evidence that the entities he mentioned have been calling for a ballroom for decades.

President Trump holds a rendering of the White House ballroom in the Oval Office last year.

Photographer: Aaron Schwartz/CNP/Bloomberg

The president has fixated on his ballroom project even as he oversees a war in Iran and multiple other domestic and foreign policy priorities. A former real estate developer in New York, Trump had the east wing of the White House torn down last year to make room for the new space, alarming preservationists and drawing sharp criticism from Democrats.

In late March, a Washington federal judge moved to halt Trump’s ballroom construction until he gets approval from Congress.

On Sunday, the Justice Department sent a letter asking the National Trust for Historic Preservation to dismiss the suit, citing the attack on the dinner, which was hosted at the Washington Hilton.

“The 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,” wrote Brett Shumate, assistant attorney general for the civil division.

He added that the US plans to ask the judge on Monday morning to dissolve the injunction and dismiss the case.

Read More: White House Ballroom Design Approved Despite Court Order

(Updates with Blanche letter in last three paragraphs)

--With assistance from Josh Wingrove and María Paula Mijares Torres.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Jeff Mason in Washington at jmason198@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Jordan Fabian at jfabian6@bloomberg.net

Kevin Whitelaw

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