{"id":2779,"date":"2026-05-25T18:33:54","date_gmt":"2026-05-25T18:33:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/echostoryus.com\/?p=2779"},"modified":"2026-05-25T18:33:56","modified_gmt":"2026-05-25T18:33:56","slug":"donald-trump-renews-call-for-white-house-ballroom-after-shooting-says-the-national-security-of-our-country-demands-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/echostoryus.com\/?p=2779","title":{"rendered":"Donald Trump Renews Call for White House Ballroom After Shooting, Says the \u2018National Security of Our Country Demands It\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<header class=\"entry-header\">\n<h1 class=\"entry-title\">Donald Trump Renews Call for White House Ballroom After Shooting, Says the \u2018National Security of Our Country Demands It\u2019<\/h1>\n<div class=\"entry-meta\"><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<div class=\"loc article-header\">\n<div id=\"people-article-header_1-0\" class=\"comp people-article-header mntl-article-header\">\n<p class=\"article-subheading text-utility-300\">The president\u2019s latest remarks about the pricy project come after he repeatedly made a similar case for the ballroom following the White House Correspondents\u2019 Dinner shooting in April<\/p>\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-1\">\n<div data-type=\"_mgwidget\" data-widget-id=\"1938506\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"loc article-content\">\n<figure id=\"figure-article_1-0\" class=\"comp figure-article mntl-universal-primary-image right-rail__offset text-utility-100 figure-landscape primary-image\">\n<div class=\"primary-image__media\">\n<div class=\"img-placeholder\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"primary-image__image mntl-primary-image--blurry loaded\" src=\"https:\/\/people.com\/thmb\/Yz__lWIGolg1Wa798urckrZAYh8=\/1500x0\/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(749x0:751x2):format(webp)\/Trump-Oval-Office-052426-493f7a50115d49a6a4767be9dab38eba.jpg\" sizes=\"auto, 750px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/people.com\/thmb\/2weKKS221hqrkMb9axHei4E8AZ4=\/750x0\/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(749x0:751x2):format(webp)\/Trump-Oval-Office-052426-493f7a50115d49a6a4767be9dab38eba.jpg 750w\" alt=\"US President Donald Trump speaks during an announcement in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington\" width=\"1500\" height=\"1000\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption id=\"primary-image__figcap_1-0\" class=\"comp primary-image__figcap mntl-figure-caption figure-article-caption\"><span class=\"figure-article-caption-text\">President Donald Trump on May 21, 2026.<\/span><span class=\"figure-article-caption-owner\">Credit :\u00a0<\/span>Al Drago\/The Washington Post\/Bloomberg via Getty<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div id=\"article-content_1-0\" class=\"comp article-content mntl-block\">\n<div id=\"mntl-sc-page_1-0\" class=\"comp mntl-sc-page mntl-block structured-content\" data-sc-sticky-offset=\"90\" data-sc-ad-label-height=\"24\" data-sc-ad-track-spacing=\"100\" data-sc-min-track-height=\"250\" data-sc-max-track-height=\"600\" data-sc-breakpoint=\"50em\" data-sc-load-immediate=\"4\" data-sc-content-positions=\"[1, 1250, 1550, 1950, 2350, 2750, 3150, 3550, 3950]\" data-bind-scroll-on-start=\"true\">\n<div id=\"mntl-sc-block_1-0\" class=\"comp mntl-sc-block people-sc-block-callout mntl-sc-block-universal-callout theme-needtoknow\" data-tracking-id=\"mntl-sc-block-callout\" data-tracking-container=\"true\">\n<h3 class=\"mntl-sc-block-universal-callout__heading\">NEED TO KNOW<\/h3>\n<div class=\"mntl-sc-block-universal-callout__body\">\n<ul>\n<li>Donald Trump renewed his push for a White House ballroom following a shooting near the White House gates<\/li>\n<li>Trump claimed that the addition is essential for national security following the May 23 shooting, as well as the assassination attempt at the White House Correspondents\u2019 Dinner in April<\/li>\n<li>The $400 million passion project has temporarily stalled as Senate Republicans seek $1 billion in additional security funding<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_2-0\" class=\"comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html\">Donald Trump\u00a0is once again using safety as a justification for his White House ballroom.<\/p>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_4-0\" class=\"comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html\">Following the\u00a0shooting outside the White House\u00a0on Saturday, May 23, the president, 79, shared a renewed call to finish his\u00a0much-discussed\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/people.com\/trump-building-90000-sq-ft-ballroom-larger-than-white-house-11783531\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-type=\"\" data-component=\"link\" data-source=\"inlineLink\" data-ordinal=\"3\">ballroom<\/a>, which will be located\u00a0where the torn-down East Wing once stood.<\/p>\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-1\">\n<div data-type=\"_mgwidget\" data-widget-id=\"1938506\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_6-0\" class=\"comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html\">The shooter \u2014 identified as 21-year-old Nasire Best by the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD)\u2014 allegedly approached the White House complex and fired several shots, striking two people, before Secret Service agents shot him. President\u00a0Donald Trump\u00a0was in the building at the time, \u201cbut was not impacted\u201d by the shooting, a Secret Service spokesperson confirmed to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/live-updates\/white-house-gun-shots-north-lawn\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-type=\"\" data-component=\"link\" data-source=\"inlineLink\" data-ordinal=\"2\">CBS News<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_8-0\" class=\"comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html\">Following the Washington, D.C., shooting, Trump \u2014 who has recently claimed that the military is pushing for the construction of the ballroom\u00a0\u201cmore than anybody\u201d\u00a0\u2014 said in a\u00a0Truth Social post\u00a0recapping the incident that national security \u201cdemands\u201d his temporarily stalled White House addition be built.<\/p>\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-1\">\n<div data-type=\"_mgwidget\" data-widget-id=\"1938506\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<figure id=\"mntl-sc-block_10-0\" class=\"comp mntl-sc-block people-sc-block-image mntl-sc-block-image mntl-sc-block-image--no-theme no-theme figure-landscape figure-high-res\">\n<div class=\"figure-media\">\n<div class=\"img-placeholder\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" id=\"mntl-sc-block-image_1-0\" class=\"mntl-image mntl-image universal-image__image lazyloadwait lazyloaded\" src=\"https:\/\/people.com\/thmb\/rqwhGU_l6yCACRL77Hhh0e07y10=\/4000x0\/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(719x326:721x328):format(webp)\/white-house-ballroom-construction-2-102225-a05e9b64a7ca49198201131a4fe31e9c.jpg\" sizes=\"auto, 4000px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/people.com\/thmb\/rqwhGU_l6yCACRL77Hhh0e07y10=\/4000x0\/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(719x326:721x328):format(webp)\/white-house-ballroom-construction-2-102225-a05e9b64a7ca49198201131a4fe31e9c.jpg 4000w\" alt=\"US President Donald Trump holds a rendering of the planned White House ballroom during a meeting with Mark Rutte, secretary general of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), not pictured, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025.\" width=\"1500\" height=\"1000\" data-src=\"https:\/\/people.com\/thmb\/rqwhGU_l6yCACRL77Hhh0e07y10=\/4000x0\/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(719x326:721x328):format(webp)\/white-house-ballroom-construction-2-102225-a05e9b64a7ca49198201131a4fe31e9c.jpg\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/people.com\/thmb\/rqwhGU_l6yCACRL77Hhh0e07y10=\/4000x0\/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(719x326:721x328):format(webp)\/white-house-ballroom-construction-2-102225-a05e9b64a7ca49198201131a4fe31e9c.jpg 4000w\" data-sizes=\"4000px\" data-expand=\"300\" data-click-tracked=\"true\" data-img-lightbox-variant=\"\" data-tracking-container=\"true\" data-img-lightbox=\"true\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption id=\"mntl-figure-caption_1-0\" class=\"comp mntl-figure-caption text-utility-100 figure-article-caption\"><span class=\"figure-article-caption-text\">Trump with a rendering of his White House ballroom plans.<\/span>Aaron Schwartz\/CNP\/Bloomberg via Getty<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_11-0\" class=\"comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html\">\u201cThank you to our great Secret Service and Law Enforcement for the swift and professional action taken this evening against a gunman near the White House, who had a violent history and possible obsession with our Country\u2019s most cherished structure,\u201d wrote Trump. \u201cThe gunman is dead after an exchange of gunfire with Secret Service Agents near the White House gates.\u201d<\/p>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_13-0\" class=\"comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html\">He continued, \u201cThis event is one month removed from the White House Correspondents\u2019 Dinner shooting, and goes to show how important it is, for all future Presidents, to get, what will be, the most safe and secure space of its kind ever built in Washington, D.C. The National Security of our Country demands it!\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"code-block code-block-1\">\n<div data-type=\"_mgwidget\" data-widget-id=\"1938506\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_17-0\" class=\"comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html\">The president also demanded the White House ballroom project \u2014 which began when the East Wing was demolished in October 2025 \u2014 be completed following\u00a0the assassination attempt\u00a0at\u00a0the White House Correspondents\u2019 Dinner\u00a0at the Washington Hilton hotel in April. He\u00a0repeatedly made his case that the White House desperately needs a new ballroom\u00a0in the immediate aftermath of the Saturday, April 25, shooting.<\/p>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_19-0\" class=\"comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html\">Earlier this month, Trump repeated the same claim while stating that the\u00a090,000-square-foot,\u00a0$400 million\u00a0project \u2014 double\u00a0what he originally said the ballroom would cost\u00a0\u2014 will be \u201cthe most beautiful ballroom anywhere in the world\u201d and \u201cvery safe.\u201d<\/p>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_21-0\" class=\"comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html\">\u201cYou\u2019ll never see anything like it. And it\u2019ll also be very safe. It\u2019s going to be a very safe ballroom,\u201d he said during an address at his second Rose Garden Club dinner on May 11, adding that the glass will be \u201clike six inches thick.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"mntl-sc-block_23-0\" class=\"comp mntl-sc-block people-sc-block-image mntl-sc-block-image mntl-sc-block-image--no-theme no-theme figure-landscape figure-high-res\">\n<div class=\"figure-media\">\n<div class=\"img-placeholder\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" id=\"mntl-sc-block-image_2-0\" class=\"mntl-image mntl-image universal-image__image lazyloadwait lazyloaded\" src=\"https:\/\/people.com\/thmb\/o16HnoN1QXApvIJI2MFjjfjTzJk=\/4000x0\/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(749x0:751x2):format(webp)\/Trump-White-House-052426-f9b8a9fb33e84c10a21b0ec3ac5abb04.jpg\" sizes=\"auto, 4000px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/people.com\/thmb\/o16HnoN1QXApvIJI2MFjjfjTzJk=\/4000x0\/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(749x0:751x2):format(webp)\/Trump-White-House-052426-f9b8a9fb33e84c10a21b0ec3ac5abb04.jpg 4000w\" alt=\"U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during the swearing-in ceremony for the new Chairman of the Federal Reserve\" width=\"1500\" height=\"1000\" data-src=\"https:\/\/people.com\/thmb\/o16HnoN1QXApvIJI2MFjjfjTzJk=\/4000x0\/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(749x0:751x2):format(webp)\/Trump-White-House-052426-f9b8a9fb33e84c10a21b0ec3ac5abb04.jpg\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/people.com\/thmb\/o16HnoN1QXApvIJI2MFjjfjTzJk=\/4000x0\/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(749x0:751x2):format(webp)\/Trump-White-House-052426-f9b8a9fb33e84c10a21b0ec3ac5abb04.jpg 4000w\" data-sizes=\"4000px\" data-expand=\"300\" data-click-tracked=\"true\" data-img-lightbox-variant=\"\" data-tracking-container=\"true\" data-img-lightbox=\"true\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption id=\"mntl-figure-caption_2-0\" class=\"comp mntl-figure-caption text-utility-100 figure-article-caption\"><span class=\"figure-article-caption-text\">Donald Trump on May 22, 2026.<\/span>Kyle Mazza\/Anadolu via Getty<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_24-0\" class=\"comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html\">\u201cYou look through it, and you can see as perfectly as though it weren\u2019t there. Now how\u2019d they do that? I don\u2019t know, but it\u2019s at the highest level of safety, and you won\u2019t have a situation as you had two weeks ago on Saturday night,\u201d he continued, seemingly referring to the\u00a0dinner shooting, which he was present for, on April 25.<\/p>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_28-0\" class=\"comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html\">Along with Trump, Senate Republicans are serious about\u00a0approving an additional $1 billion in security funding\u00a0for the president\u2019s passion project while it is\u00a0held up by litigation. Trump has repeatedly insisted would be funded by private donations from himself and major corporations.<\/p>\n<p id=\"mntl-sc-block_30-0\" class=\"comp mntl-sc-block mntl-sc-block-html\">The politicians ran into a procedural roadblock as they tried to pass a $72 billion funding package for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Customs and Border Protection and other agencies.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Donald Trump Renews Call for White House Ballroom After Shooting, Says the \u2018National Security of Our Country Demands It\u2019 The president\u2019s latest remarks about the pricy project come after he &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18],"class_list":["post-2779","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-story","tag-aita","tag-diamond-ring","tag-diamonds","tag-engagement","tag-engagement-ring","tag-fiance","tag-fiancee","tag-lab-grown-diamonds","tag-photo","tag-picture","tag-reddit","tag-relationships","tag-top","tag-wedding"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/echostoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2779","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/echostoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/echostoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/echostoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/echostoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2779"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/echostoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2779\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2780,"href":"https:\/\/echostoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2779\/revisions\/2780"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/echostoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/echostoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/echostoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}