U.S. President Donald Trump on the night of the 25th (local time) again stressed the need for the White House ballroom he is pushing to build, citing the shooting that occurred in the White House press corps dinner venue.
On the 26th, President Trump wrote on the social media platform Truth Social, "What happened last night is exactly why our great military, the Secret Service, law enforcement, and for different reasons every president has for 150 years demanded a large, safe, and highly secure ballroom on the White House grounds."
He added, "If there had been a ballroom now under construction at the White House with the highest level of military-grade security, this would never have happened. The sooner it is built, the better."
The shooting the day before occurred not at the White House but at the Washington Hilton hotel in Washington, D.C. A suspect, a man in his 30s from California, was subdued at the scene after attempting to enter a secure area of the dinner venue, where President Trump and senior administration officials were in heavy attendance, while carrying two firearms, a knife, and other weapons.
Although the suspect did not actually get into the dinner hall, U.S. media are raising the possibility of a security failure, noting that the person, heavily armed, passed through the hotel entrance and approached the internal secure area.
Construction of the White House ballroom is being pursued on the site of the East Wing of the White House, which was demolished last year. It is a project President Trump has aggressively pushed based on private donations, but a recent U.S. federal judge ordered work to stop, rejecting the Trump team's claim that he has authority to remodel the White House, including a ballroom, without congressional approval.
Trump's post that day is seen as again emphasizing the need to build the White House ballroom, using the shooting as justification.
Trump said, "While beautiful, this ballroom will not only have every top-level security feature, but it will not have space for unsecured people to pour in, and it is inside the entry doors of the White House, the safest building in the world."
He also addressed the lawsuit over the ballroom's construction, calling it "a ridiculous lawsuit brought by a woman walking her dog, who has absolutely no standing," and said it should be dismissed immediately. He added, "Nothing should be allowed to interfere with this project, which is within budget and moving far ahead of schedule."