Trump renews call for speedy completion of White House project after WHCD shooting

The shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday night has renewed the fervor of another debate raging in the nation’s capital.

On Sunday morning, President Trump made a post on Truth Social renewing his call to complete the White House ballroom, a project that has been halted due to an ongoing lawsuit.

‘The White House ballroom is essential for the safety and security of the president, his family, his Cabinet, and his staff.’

Trump argued that the shooting over the weekend demonstrates why the president needs a secure venue to host large events.

“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. “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!”

RELATED: WHCD attendees caught snatching wine bottles off tables amid chaos in aftermath of shooting

Pete Marovich/Washington Post/Getty Images

He added that the ballroom is both beautiful and far more secure than the Hilton hotel in Washington.

Trump then pivoted to attack the ongoing lawsuit that has obstructed the construction of the ballroom despite his wishes.

“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. Nothing should be allowed to interfere with with [sic] its construction, which is on budget and substantially ahead of schedule!!!” Trump concluded.

Trump echoed this message in a White House press briefing in the aftermath of the shooting, adding that modern times place higher demands on security than those of the past: “We need levels of security that probably nobody has ever seen before.”

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche signaled his agreement with Trump’s calls to continue the project, posting a copy of a letter regarding the lawsuit along with the caption, “It’s time to build the ballroom.”

The letter, signed by Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate, begins by stating that the shooting Saturday was not the first attempt on a president’s life at the Washington Hilton hotel, referring to an attempt on President Ronald Reagan’s life by John Hinckley Jr., at the beginning of his presidency.

Shumate continues: “Yesterday’s assassination attempt on President Trump proves, yet again, that the White House ballroom is essential for the safety and security of the president, his family, his Cabinet, and his staff. 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.”

He says that the lawsuit therefore puts the president and those close to him at “grave risk,” adding that he hopes “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.”

Blanche added in a reply to the post that the 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.”

However, the reality is a bit more complicated than the “passing aesthetic gripe of a single person,” as Blanche described.

The lawsuit was brought by the National Trust for Historic Preservation in the United States, a nonprofit organization chartered by Congress in 1949. The organization represents thousands of members across the country, according to the complaint.

Blanche appears to be describing one member of the organization who is explicitly mentioned in the lawsuit, though she is not the only member whose interests are represented.

That said, she is described as a “professor emerita at a university where she taught history and historic preservation” who “frequently visits the White House neighborhood in order to enjoy the historic buildings and the beauty of the city’s design, in which the White House prominently features.”

Many right-leaning X accounts posted messages following the shooting urging the completion of the White House ballroom.

“THIS IS WHY WE NEED TRUMP’S BALLROOM,” Libs of TikTok wrote.

“Now you know why the left is suing to block Trump’s privately-funded WH ballroom,” End Wokeness said.

“I don’t want to hear one more f**king criticism of Trump’s new ballroom at the White House,” Meghan McCain added.

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