Trump renews push for White House ballroom after assassination attempt
Donald Trump (photo: Getty Images)
The US President said that the attempted assassination overnight once again proves the need to build a secure ballroom at the White House.
According to him, what happened last night is exactly the reason why military personnel, law enforcement, and "every President over the past 150 years" have called for the construction of a large, safe, and secure ballroom on White House grounds.
"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!" Trump wrote.
He claimed the facility is not only beautiful but also has "every highest level security feature." He added that there are no rooms above it that could allow outsiders to infiltrate, and that it is located within the fenced perimeter 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!!!," the US president concluded.
Assassination attempt, ballroom project: What we know
On April 26, US President Donald Trump and senior officials attended a dinner with White House press pool journalists at the Washington Hilton hotel.
At one point, a man with a weapon breached a checkpoint, after which several shots were fired. Trump was urgently evacuated. As it turned out, one officer was injured in the shooting, but his life was saved by a bulletproof vest.
Later, media reports identified the shooter as 31-year-old teacher Cole Allen from Torrance, California. He was detained at the scene. Sources in various media outlets reported that after the incident, the man said he had planned to open fire on officials in Trump's administration.
As for the ballroom, it is a $400 million project that Trump has been pursuing for about a year. Part of the White House was demolished to make way for the project, but construction of the new structure was delayed due to a court case. However, an appeals court recently allowed construction to continue.
