The National Trust for Historic Preservation said it would continue its legal challenge to President Donald Trump’s planned ballroom, rejecting a Justice Department demand to drop the case because of the shooting this weekendat the White House correspondents’ dinner.
The shooting was an “awful event” but did not change the legal reality that the Constitution and federal law require Trump to get Congress’s approval for the $400 million White House ballroom project, the trust said. The nonprofit, which is authorized by Congress to protect federal buildings, pushed back sharply against the Justice Department’s contention that the lawsuit endangers the president.
“Your assertion that this lawsuit puts the President’s life at ‘grave risk’ is incorrect and irresponsible,” Gregory Craig, a Foley Hoag lawyer representing the National Trust, wrote to Justice Department lawyers on Sunday. “Simply put, this case does not jeopardize the President’s safety in any way.”
The letter was shared with The Washington Post.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Monday reiterated the administration’s demand that the project be allowed to move forward.
“The president, the vice president, members of the Cabinet, the line of succession in this country should be able to gather freely and [safely] without the fear of threats or political violence, and the White House ballroom will provide that,” Leavitt said at a briefing with reporters.
The exchange marked the latest move in a months-long legal and political battle over the project, which Trump has pursued since ordering the rapid demolition of the East Wing last fall without congressional authorization.
On Saturday night, a person armed with a shotgun and other weapons charged past a Secret Service checkpoint outside the Washington Hilton’s ballroom. One Secret Service agent was shot in the chest but was protected by a bullet-resistant vest. Trump, first lady Melania Trump, Vice President JD Vance and members of the Cabinet were evacuated. A suspect is in custody.
Within hours, Trump and his allies seized on the shooting to argue for the White House ballroom. Trump called the Washington Hilton “not a particularly secure building” and said the incident “would never have happened” at his planned White House facility, which he says will feature bulletproof glass, drone-proof roofing and “very major medical facilities.”
On Sunday afternoon, acting attorney general Todd Blanche posted a Justice Department letter pressing the trust’s law firm to end “this unnecessary and dangerous litigation.”
The nonprofit was unmoved. In his letter, Craig noted that the group had consistently called for any court injunction to allow continued construction of any underground bunker, a carve-out that he said shows the group takes presidential security seriously. Construction on the ballroom has not actually paused despite the litigation, he pointed out, adding that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit will soon take up the national security questions the Justice Department raised.
“The National Trust has consistently maintained that this lawsuit is not about whether there should be a ballroom, but whether the President must follow the law,” Carol Quillen, president and CEO of the trust, said in a statement. “Ballroom construction is continuing unabated until June 5th at the earliest because the injunction is on hold.”
The legal fight stretches back to December, when the trust sued the administration, arguing the project required approvals from Congress and federal review commissions. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon, a George W. Bush appointee, ruled last month that Trump lacked unilateral authority to proceed but made an exception for work “strictly necessary” to ensure White House security.
Trump argued that the judge’s exception covered the full project; Leon disagreed and, after additional legal arguments, ordered a halt to aboveground construction. A three-judge appeals court panel then allowed work to continue while the case proceeds, with a hearing scheduled for June.
The proposed 90,000-square-foot structure, which is nearly twice as large as the White House’s main mansion, would seat up to 999 guests. Trump has called it “a great legacy project” modeled on Versailles and his Mar-a-Lago estate. Polls have consistently shown most Americans oppose it: 58 percent disapproved of demolishing the East Wing to make way for the ballroom in a February Economist-YouGov survey, while 25 percent supported it.
Before the shooting, Congress showed little appetite to authorize the project. In the two days since, several of Trump’s congressional allies, including Sen. Tim Sheehy (R-Montana), Rep. Randy Fine (R-Florida) and Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colorado), have said they will seek to secure congressional approval, although Boebert suggested she didn’t believe it was legally necessary.
The post National Trust rejects Trump demand to drop ballroom suit in wake of shooting appeared first on Washington Post.
