U.S. President Donald Trump answers questions during a press conference in the Brady Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, DC, shortly after the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on April 25, 2026.
Mandel Gunn | AFP | Getty Images
President Donald Trump on Sunday renewed his call for construction to continue on the planned White House ballroom.
President Trump and his Cabinet were evacuated after attendees heard multiple gunshots at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner at the Washington Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C., on Saturday night. President Trump said after the incident that the gunman had been “eliminated” by U.S. secret agents.
“What happened last night is exactly why our great military, our secret services, our law enforcement agencies, and every president for a variety of reasons over the last 150 years, have called for the construction of a massive, secure ballroom on the grounds of the White House,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “This event would never have happened if there was a secret military banquet hall currently being built at the White House. We can’t build it fast enough!”
President Trump was invited as the honoree to the annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner, a private event. If a ballroom is built on the White House grounds, Trump and future presidents are likely to face political backlash for using tax dollars to host and provide security for private events such as the Washington, D.C., press dinner.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation is suing the Trump administration to block construction of a $400 million, 90,000-square-foot ballroom planned on the site of the former East Wing of the White House, which was demolished to make room for the project.
On Sunday, the Justice Department sent a letter to lawyers representing the group, asking them to drop their legal challenges, citing in particular the shooting at a press dinner Saturday night.
“In light of last night’s assassination attempt on President Trump, our client should voluntarily withdraw this frivolous lawsuit today,” the letter, signed by Gen. Brett Shumate of the Justice Department’s civil division, said. “If our client does not dismiss the case by 9 a.m. Monday, the government will move to lift the injunction and dismiss the case in light of last night’s unusual circumstances.”
Sen. Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.) said in a post on X on Sunday that he plans to introduce a bill this week that would authorize construction of the ballroom and seek unanimous consent.
“Presidents of all political parties should be able to host events in safe locations without attendees having to worry about their safety,” Sheehy wrote.
For now, the court has allowed construction of the ballroom to continue.
On April 16, a federal judge issued an amended order that largely prevents the government from continuing above-ground construction. Underground work, including work related to national security facilities, was allowed to continue, according to the order, as well as above-ground work “strictly necessary to cover, secure, and protect national security facilities.”
The next day, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit temporarily put the order on hold and scheduled a June 5 hearing to reconsider the case.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation claims President Trump overstepped his authority by moving forward with the project without Congressional approval.
In a Sunday post, the president said the lawsuit should be dismissed and reiterated his position that building the banquet hall is a matter of national security.
“Nothing should be allowed to stand in the way of its construction, which is well on budget and ahead of schedule!!!” Trump wrote.
