https://apnews.com/article/todd-blanche-white-house-ballroom-trump-1d063b208677631cb964c6c8ff64bd96WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s Justice Department is using the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday to try to pressure preservationists to drop their lawsuit over his planned $400 million ballroom on the site of the former East Wing of the White House.“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.
For months, Trump has mentioned the ballroom project at nearly every chance, often talking about the lawsuit or his desire to construct the space during events on a number of other topics. As he addressed tuxedo- and ball gown-clad reporters who scurried from the Washington Hilton to the White House for a Saturday night news conference, Trump called for tougher security measures and pointed to the incident as a reason his ballroom is needed.In the wake of the shooting, Trump, Blanche and a number of supporters of the administration have taken the opportunity to push for the project across social media platforms and news programs. Republican Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan said he agreed with Trump “100%” on the massive White House construction project, which Jordan said on Fox News Channel “obviously would be much safer location for these type of events.”Sunday morning on X, Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said he agreed with Trump that the White House ballroom “is a national security necessity” that would give the Secret Service “immense control over the security environment of future events with a very hardened facility.”Even some Democrats agreed. Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman, who attended Saturday’s dinner, said on X that the proposed White House space should be used “for events exactly like these.” On CNN later Sunday, Fetterman said attendees and Americans overall were in a “vulnerable” position during Saturday’s event, in part because many in the presidential line of succession were present and could have been harmedFetterman responded, “I certainly hope so” when asked if the incident would spark more support for the White House project.
In the century-plus since its grounds were largely closed to the public, dozens of events are evidence that even the White House complex is not impervious to intrusion.There have been a number of documented incidents in which people have scaled security barriers around the White House. One of them, a disturbed Army veteran carrying a knife, jumped the fence in 2014 and raced into the White House, making his way into the East Room before heading back down a hallway on the State Floor deep within the mansion.A Homeland Security Department review of the case determined that lack of training, poor staffing decisions and communication problems contributed to the embarrassing failure that ultimately led to the resignation of the head of the Secret Service.In 1994, a pilot died when he crashed a small stolen plane on the South Lawn, hitting a tree and a first-floor corner of the building. And in 2009, uninvited guests Tareq and Michaele Salahi crashed a state dinner, passing through security checkpoints and meeting President Barack Obama in an incident that sparked security investigations.
Trump tore down the East Wing last fall to build the massive ballroom in that space. In its lawsuit, the National Trust for Historic Preservation argued that Trump had overstepped his authority by moving forward with the project without first getting approval from key federal agencies and Congress.Earlier this month, a federal appeals court allowed Trump to continue construction of the $400 million project, ruling a day after a lower court judge continued to block above-ground construction on the site and scheduling a June 5 hearing to review the case. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon’s ruling had blocked above-ground construction of the 90,000-square-foot (8,400-square-meter) ballroom addition, while allowing only below-ground work to continue on a bunker and other “national security facilities” at the site.On Fox News Channel on Sunday, Trump forecast that, by the end of his current term, his project would be complete.“In the year ’28 you’re going to have something, you’re going to have a ballroom, the top of the line, security,” Trump said. “You’re not going to have problems.”
>>1509714I genuinely don't get why they think this is a sign they need the ballroom. The guy didn't get past the front door; he never even was in a room adjacent to Trump. If anything this proves the venue they were using is safe and the ballroom is redundant; it's not like the ballroom is gonna magically ward off anyone else making an attempt.
>>1509720woah there cool it with the antisemitism. we really need this ballroom and we should be grateful trump was so brilliant to think of it. truly the most generous, smart and handsome president in history
>>1509720More to the point, this event wouldn't have been at the WH even if the ballroom existed.Trump's argument seems to be the WH should have facilities for any activity Trump could ever want to engage in so they never have to leave. And I don't think he has the budget to slap down a golf course or an underage brothel in the middle of DC.
>>1509720See >>1509533The Trump administration made a mistake and is now blaming other people as usual.
>>1509720It's because trump staged it to try and force through the building of the epstein/trump ballroom.The guy was clearly on the feds radar, but instead of detaining him, trump had security weakened so the guy could 'almost' reach him and then use it as an excuse to demand everyone opposed to the ballroom stop.This is why you see all the bots and shills in lockstep talking about the ballroom, and not what you normally expect, which would be attacking blacks or liberals.
>>1509714The plot head-thickens…
>>1509714Reminder the ballroom went from "We'll fund it entirely using donations, not a dime from the taxpayers" to "We need to use taxpayer money to have our safe and secure ballroom RIGHT NOW".It's all just one big fucking grift.
>>1509912I don't know why you retards opposed the ballroom when it was free.
>>1510081Because even back then he made it clear he was going to fund it using the results of his own lawsuit against the justice department. Now he's abandoned that angle and is trying to make it something funded by congress outright.
>>1510081well you're not american, so i understand why you don't think it's bad to bulldoze the white house
>>1510081It wasn't free, it was 'paid for by private donations,' which is a cute way of saying it was a massive bribe. You are a fucking brainlet.
>>1510081If you aren't supposed to oppose free things improving the country, then why do you oppose Mexican immigrants coming into the US and working?
>>1510087Because it's modern slavery.
>>1509724Trump wants a palace
>>1510088>It's modern day slavery! It's a crime what's happening to those illegals, all the better for us to put in cages to horrifically abuse before sending them back to the same countries they fled or completely unrelated placesI love this Schrodinger tactic where shills will act like they're doing this for the migrant's own good in one breath and then talk about how they're vermin who should be dropped out of helicopters the next.
>>1510093>leftoid unironically defending human traffickingIf they're not a citizen they can be extorted by their bosses to work for pennies and/or do sexual favors. Same shit happens when they're being transported by mules.
>>1510107So what if we just started making them citizens if they have no criminal record in the past say 5-10 years they've been around without someone rounding them up
>>1510114If they entered the country illegally then they are already criminals.
>>1510107So they're victims but we need to treat them worse than the people victimizing them? Got it, yeah, very coherent position.
>>1510120>treat them worseWe're sending them back home if they won't go voluntarily. We pay for their plane ticket and lodgings if they do.
>>1510122>Please ignore the separations of children from their parents, the horrible conditions of holding centers, the fact they left those homes for a reason and either have nothing left there or would be in active danger if we do, and the fact we've started sending them either directly to prisons or completely unrelated countries to the ones they leftHistory isn't going to see your whitewashing.
>>1510130We separate children from their 'parents' because children are often used as drug mules.The conditions at holding centers are the result of over-population.And we give asylum to people that have a proven active danger to their lives.Regardless, none of this justifies human trafficking. Grow up.
>>1510135>We separate children from their 'parents' because children are often used as drug mules.The people who crafted the policy are on record as saying it was intended to harm parents, not for the safety of the children.So shut the everloving fuck up.Also, if the Trump admin gave 2 shits about the children, they might have fucking tracked them. How many thousands did they fucking lose again?God I can't stand dumb cowards like you that want horrible shit you won't even honestly defend. Grow a fucking spine.
>>1510143They're not gonna grow a spine, we need to round them up in the streets and shove some up their asses. Its the only way we'll get rid of this shit.
>>1510135>And we give asylum to people that have a proven active danger to their lives.And then deport them anyway, as we saw with Kilmar Garcia who this admin is literally still trying to deport to fucking Uganda out of pure spite.
