Trump White House ballroom won’t be dropped after WHCD shooting: lawyer
U.S. President Donald Trump holds a presentation of the proposed ballroom as he meets with North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Secretary-General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, U.S., October 22, 2025.
Kevin Lamarque | Reuters
On Monday, the plaintiff in the lawsuit challenging President Donald Trump’s $400 million White House ballroom project denied Trump’s request. Ministry of Justice Dropping this legal challenge following the shooting incident at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, from which Trump was evacuated.
“Your assertion that this case puts the President’s life at ‘serious risk’ is false and irresponsible,” wrote the plaintiff’s attorney, Gregory Craig. National Trust for Historic PreservationTo DOJ Deputy Attorney General Brett Shumate.
“Simply put, this case does not in any way jeopardize the President’s safety,” Craig wrote in a new letter provided to CNBC.
“And nothing prevents you from asking Congress at any time for the necessary authorization required by the Constitution and federal law,” the attorney wrote.
“What Saturday’s horrific incident did not change is that the Constitution and many federal laws require Congress to authorize construction of a ballroom on the White House grounds, and Congress has not done so.
A model of the new White House ballroom to be built sits on the table as U.S. President Donald Trump meets with North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Secretary-General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, United States, October 22, 2025.
Kevin Lamarque | Reuters
Craig’s response came after two days of renewed calls from Trump, Republican lawmakers and the president’s supporters for the lawsuit to be dismissed by a federal court and clear the way for construction of the ballroom.
Trump and others say the proposed 90,000-square-foot ballroom would be much safer than the Washington Hilton Hotel, where Saturday’s attack took place, and other venues outside the White House.
In his letter to Craig on Sunday, Shumate said the foundation’s lawsuit “puts the lives of the President, his family, and his staff at great risk.”
“I hope yesterday’s narrow miss helps you finally understand how ridiculous a lawsuit is that serves no purpose other than to stop President Trump at all costs,” Shumate wrote.
“Enough is enough,” Shumate wrote. “Your client must voluntarily dismiss this frivolous lawsuit today in light of last night’s assassination attempt on President Trump.”
The WHCD shooting occurred nine days after a federal judge issued an order blocking construction of the ballroom on the grounds that Trump had not received approval from Congress.
“National security is not a blank check to continue otherwise illegal activities,” U.S. District Judge Richard Leon wrote in his order banning construction of the ballroom while the case is pending.
The Justice Department appealed that decision, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia vacated Leon’s preliminary injunction, but said it would expedite review of the Justice Department’s appeal.
Trump cited the incident as an example to support his long-sought ballroom at a press conference held just hours after the alleged gunman Cole Tomas Allen was arrested on Saturday.
“A ballroom is essential for many reasons,” Rep. Mike Lawler, R-R.Y., said in an interview on Fox News on Monday; This was one of several segments of the conservative network where voices calling for this structure to be built were heard heavily.
In a separate Fox interview, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) accused Democratic leaders in Congress of inciting violence with their rhetoric against Trump and said he was “grateful” that Sen. John Fetterman, a Pennsylvania Democrat, supported the effort to build the ballroom for safety reasons.
“He’s right, the ballroom will be a solution to that because it will be on the most secure campus in the world, it won’t have hotel rooms above it, and it will have 7-inch thick glass in the windows,” he said. “So it will be a very safe environment to hold events like this.”
“We needed a place like this, and the president continues to emphasize that.”
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., called opposition to the ballroom an example of “Trump Derangement Syndrome” in an interview on Fox.
In addition to media coverage, Republican lawmakers and other Trump supporters took to social media to publicize calls for the ballroom to be built.
These social media posts also drew reactions The answers of some people who sayThere is no evidence that the WHCD shooting incident was staged to create pressure to build the ballroom.
Other critics of the ballroom appeals noted that presidents routinely visit venues other than the White House.
