Hours after a gunman charged into the White House Correspondents' Dinner, President Trump said the security breach illustrates the need for a ballroom to be added to the White House. In a social media post Sunday, Trump said the chaos "would never have happened" if a fortified ballroom now under construction on the White House grounds had been available, calling for the project to be finished "fast," the New York Times reports. It's been the subject of legal battles for months.
Trump and his allies quickly framed the attack as proof that a lawsuit trying to halt the ballroom project should be thrown out. His lawyers have already argued in federal court that the structure, planned as a 90,000-square-foot hall, is a national security upgrade that would allow large events to be held inside the White House complex. Trump says the $400 million cost will come from private donors he has not fully identified. The plans include a secure bunker to be built under the ballroom, which would go where the East Wing was until Trump had it demolished.
Even if the ballroom were built, the Washington Post points out, it's not clear how it could have helped Saturday night. The correspondents' dinner is a private event, not a government function. This was the first one Trump has attended as president. Still, NBC News reports, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham posted that he plans to introduce legislation on Monday to approve and fund the ballroom project, "which over time will provide adequate security for this president and future presidents for events like the White House Correspondents Dinner."
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