WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump’s Justice Department is pressuring preservationists to drop their lawsuit over his planned $400 million ballroom on the site of the former East Wing of the White House, following Saturday's shooting at White House Correspondents' Dinner.
“It’s time to build the ballroom,” acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said plainly Sunday on X, posting a letter in which Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate gave the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which has sued to block construction, until 9 a.m. Monday to dismiss its lawsuit.
If it doesn't do so, Shumate wrote, the government would ask a court to do so “in light of last night’s extraordinary events," calling the Washington Hilton—the site of Saturday's gala—“demonstrably unsafe” for events with the president “because its size presents extraordinary security challenges for the Secret Service."
The White House ballroom, Shumate wrote, “will ensure the safety and security of the President for decades to come and prevent future assassination attempts on the President at the Washington Hilton.”
Asked about the letter, Elliot Carter, spokesperson for the National Trust for Historic Preservation, said Sunday the group would review it with legal counsel.
The preservation group sued in December, a week after the White House finished demolishing the East Wing to make way for a ballroom that Trump said would fit 999 people. Trump says the project is funded by private donations, although public money is paying for the bunker construction and security upgrades.
A crowd of 2,300 attended Saturday night's event at the Hilton, home to one of the few rooms in Washington large enough for the event. It packs in attendees at round tables whose chairs are back to back, and room to move around is tight. The dinner is not a White House event—it is run by the White House Correspondents’ Association, a nonprofit organization of journalists from media outlets that cover the president.