Trump puts ambitious White House ballroom project back into national spotlight following third assassination attempt

Shortly after being evacuated from an assassination attempt during Saturday night’s White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, President Donald Trump highlighted the need for his embattled East Wing ballroom project to continue without delay.

Trump, the first lady, Vice President JD Vance, and several other administration officials had attended the annual event at the Washington Hilton hotel for roughly 20 minutes before U.S. Secret Service agents swarmed the main stage and took up defensive positions with weapons drawn. The crowd, mostly news media professionals and their companions, reacted with confusion to the chaos and reports of gunfire as the dais was evacuated. Outside the hotel ballroom, Cole Allen, a 31-year-old teacher from Torrance, CA, armed with a long gun and knives, had allegedly charged through the secured area’s screening checkpoint, shooting a Secret Service agent in the chest before being neutralized himself. That Secret Service agent is expected to recover, the president reported during an impromptu late-night press conference at the White House shortly after the incident.

“We looked at all of the conditions that took place tonight. And I will say, you know, it’s not a particularly secure building,” Trump said, referring to the Washington Hilton before highlighting the need for a dedicated ballroom at the White House. “And I didn’t want to say this, but this is why we have to have all of the attributes of what we’re planning at the White House.”

“It’s actually a larger room, and it’s a much more secure,” he continued. “It’s drone-proof, it’s bulletproof glass. We need the ballroom. That’s why the Secret Service — that’s why the military are demanding it. They’ve wanted the ballroom for 150 years for lots of different reasons, but today’s a little bit different because today we need levels of security that probably nobody’s ever seen before.”

4/25/26 | 10:15pmEDT pic.twitter.com/4GBWxokOQ2

— Dan Scavino (@Scavino47) April 26, 2026

Trump continued to focus the national spotlight on his proposed East Wing Modernization project in a Sunday morning Truth Social post.

“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,” he wrote. “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! While beautiful, it has every highest level security feature there is, plus there are no rooms sitting on top for unsecured people to pour in, and it is inside the gates of the most secure building in the World, The White House.”

In addition, Trump praised what he envisioned as a “magnificent building” to Fox News’s Jacqi Heinrich during an interview on “The Sunday Briefing.”

“[I]t was also designed in conjunction with the military and in conjunction with the Secret Service. It’s got every single bell and whistle you can possibly have for security and safety … it’s really what you need,” Trump said. “And this was designed at the highest level by the top military and Secret Service people. It’s a joint venture, really … but [the] military and Secret Service have wanted it for many years, and I’m getting it built, and the one good thing is that now everybody knows how badly needed it is.”

WATCH:

The president’s ambitions for a modernized East Wing ran into legal obstacles beginning in December 2025, when the National Trust for Historic Preservation in the United States filed a lawsuit over the demolition at the Executive Mansion and concerns that Congress should have authorized the $400 million modernization effort. Though the 89,000-square-foot project’s design was eventually approved by two court-mandated federal review processes, Judge Richard Leon, an appointee of former President George W. Bush, ruled April 16 that only below-grade construction activities would be permitted without Congressional approval. Dismissing the Administration’s argument that it was a national security priority that the East Wing be completed according to Trump’s intention, Leon stated: “National security is not a blank check to proceed with otherwise unlawful activity.”

The Trump administration immediately filed an appeal, which was taken up by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit: Obama-appointee Patricia A. Millett, Biden-appointee Bradley N. Garcia, and Trump-appointee Neomi Rao. The judges set June 5 as the date for oral arguments; until then, an administrative stay of Leon’s orders permits construction to continue while the panel considers the case before them.

“This court will not gainsay the importance of ensuring the safety of the White House, the president, staff, and visitors,” the panel stated in its April 11 order.

Trump, meanwhile, has criticized the lawsuit as both politically motivated and absurd with respect to the concerns about historic preservation.

We were there front and center.

That venue wasn’t built to accommodate an event with the line of succession for the U.S. government.

After witnessing last night, drop the TDS and build the White House ballroom for events exactly like these. pic.twitter.com/eeUBnlSe5y

— U.S. Senator John Fetterman (@SenFettermanPA) April 26, 2026

“The ridiculous Ballroom lawsuit, brought by a woman walking her dog, who has absolutely No Standing to bring such a suit, must be dropped, immediately,” Trump’s Sunday post to Truth Social continued. “Nothing should be allowed to interfere with its construction, which is on budget and substantially ahead of schedule!!! Thank you for your attention to this matter.”

Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate likewise wrote a letter to the National Trust for Historic Preservation urging them to drop their lawsuit, given the threat to the president’s safety at Saturday’s event. A deadline of 9 a.m. Monday was specified in the letter, after which the government would “move to dissolve the injunction and dismiss the case.”

“Put simply, your client puts the lives of the President, his family, and his staff at grave risk. 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,” Shumate wrote. “Enough is enough.”

“It’s time to build the ballroom,” acting Attorney General Todd Blanche echoed Sunday on X.

It’s time to build the ballroom. pic.twitter.com/cUMkVpehGY

— Acting AG Todd Blanche (@DAGToddBlanche) April 26, 2026

A spokesperson for the plaintiffs said the letter would be reviewed with their legal counsel, The Associated Press reported.

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