Preservationists are moving ahead with their lawsuit challenging the construction of President Donald Trump’s $400 million White House ballroom – even after the Justice Department pressured them into dropping it.
Trump’s Justice Department urged the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which sued in December to stop the construction, to dismiss its lawsuit by Monday morning.
Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate cited the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner as reason to build the ballroom, calling the Washington Hilton where it was held “demonstrably unsafe” in a letter published Sunday.
Schumate wrote that a ballroom at the White House, “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.”
However, the trust said it will not be dropping the suit. Carol Quillen, who heads the trust, said that she was “grateful” the president and guests at the gala were safe, before adding, “We are not planning to voluntarily dismiss our lawsuit, which endangers no one and which respectfully asks the Administration to follow the law.”
Quillen added, “We have always acknowledged the utility of a larger meeting space at the White House. Building it lawfully requires the approval of Congress, which the Administration could see at any time.”
In the days since the shooting, Trump’s Attorney General Todd Blanche and several other MAGA loyalists have used the incident as grounds to push for the ballroom’s construction.
“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 morning in a Truth Social post.
“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 is inside the gates of the most secure building in the World, The White House,” he said.
Republican Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan said he agreed with Trump “100%,” telling Fox News it “obviously would be much safer location for these types of events.”
Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania wrote on social media that Democrats should “drop the [Trump Derangement Syndrome]” and join Republicans in support of the ballroom for security purposes.
“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,” he wrote on X.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt also made the case for the ballroom project during her briefing Monday.
“The White House ballroom project is not just a fun project for President Trump like you will read in the media,” Leavitt said. “It is actually critical for our national security that a larger, secure building on this complex — which is the most secure complex in the world — is built to accommodate not only large amounts of guests, but also the president, vice president, members of the Cabinet.”
She continued: “The line of succession in this country should be able to gather freely and safely without the fear of threats or political violence and the White House ballroom will provide that.”
“So it’s critical that we get this project done as quickly as possible,” she added.
The Independent has contacted the White House for comment.
Trump has claimed that the $400 million project is fully funded by donors. The National Trust for Historic Preservation filed its lawsuit against Trump last year, after the administration demolished the East Wing to make way for the new addition.
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