US President Donald Trump takes questions during a press briefing in the Brady Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, DC, shortly after a shooting incident at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on April 25, 2026.
Mandel Ngan | Afp | Getty Images
President Donald Trump on Sunday renewed his calls for construction to continue on the planned White House ballroom.
Trump and members of his Cabinet were evacuated from the White House Correspondents’ Dinner at the Washington Hilton hotel in Washington, D.C., on Saturday night after multiple gunshots were heard by attendees. The shooter was “taken down” by U.S. Secret Service agents, Trump said after the event.
“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 Truth Social. “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!”
Trump was invited as an honoree to the annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner, which is a privately held function. If a ballroom were to be constructed on the grounds of the White House, it likely would not host private events.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation in the United States is suing the Trump administration to block construction of the planned $400 million, 90,000-square-foot ballroom on the site of the White House’s former East Wing, which was demolished to make room for the project.
For now, courts have allowed construction on the ballroom to continue.
On April 16, a federal judge issued a revised order that largely blocked the administration from continuing above-ground construction. Underground construction, including work related to national security facilities, was allowed to continue, as well as above-ground work that is “strictly necessary to cover, secure, and protect such national security facilities,” according to the order.
The next day, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit put a temporary hold on the order and scheduled a hearing for June 5 to review the case.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation argues that Trump overstepped his authority by proceeding with the project without congressional approval.
In his Sunday post, the president said that the suit must be dropped and reiterated his stance that construction of the ballroom is a matter of national security.
“Nothing should be allowed to interfere with with its construction, which is on budget and substantially ahead of schedule!!!” Trump wrote.
