President Donald Trump on Sunday said “nothing” should be allowed to interfere with the construction of his White House ballroom, arguing that Saturday night’s shooting at the dinner would “never” have happened at the planned venue.
The ballroom, which will include a military bunker as part of its national security enhancements, has been under construction for months but has faced legal hurdles, including over arguments that it requires congressional signoff. Trump said the lawsuit against the ballroom must be dropped “immediately” in lieu of the shooting at White House Correspondents’ Association dinner Saturday evening, which he attended. Authorities believe the shooter was targeting members of the Trump administration, including the president.
“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 said in a post to Truth Social.
The president argued that the venue where the dinner was held, the Washington Hilton hotel, was vulnerable to security breaches, unlike his ballroom.
“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!” the president continued. “It has every highest level security feature there is plus, there are no rooms sitting on top for unsecured people to pour in, and is inside the gates of the most secure building in the World, The White House. 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 its construction, which is on budget and substantially ahead of schedule!!!”
Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and other top officials attending the annual dinner were swiftly evacuated and rushed from the event after a gunman rammed the hotel’s security checkpoint and began running toward the main room where attendees were gathered.
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The suspect, who has been widely identified as Cole Tomas Allen, is in custody. U.S. Attorney for Washington, D.C., Jeanine Pirro said the suspect will be charged with two counts of using a firearm and a second crime of assault on a federal officer using a dangerous weapon.
“We’re still investigating a motive, and that’s something that will necessarily take a couple of days at least,” acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said during an NBC News interview on Sunday. “We believe he was targeting administration officials in this attack, attempted attack, but that’s again, quite preliminary.”
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