The National Security Ballroom

April 28, 2026

Trump’s personal DOJ wasted no time in filing a motion to have the injunction on construction of the ballroom dissolved. The first two pages read like a comment written by Trump on Truth Social. Then the DOJ tries to make a case for why the ballroom is needed. You don’t have to be a lawyer to be able to question, if not refute, the DOJ’s reasoning.

“The President lacks a secure space for large events. . . . While the Secret Service was able to be as effective as realistically possible . . . they were nonetheless limited by the ‘inherent constraints’ that come with available ‘off-site venues’ that are outside the White House Complex . . . By contrast, having events at the White House Complex will allow for major improvements in safety, and significantly increase the ability of the Secret Service to protect the President and guests from threats.”

So, should the president not attend any events at off-site venues? The two previous assassination attempts occurred in outdoor settings: the rally at Butler, Pennsylvania, and one of Trump’s own golf courses. What about visits to factories and other places he goes to tout his policies? What about events such as the Al Smith Dinner? Will the Secret Service put the kibosh on all appearances and traveling away from the White House (except, of course, to his golf resorts)?

“As the undisputed evidence demonstrates, the Project is required for National Security. It will shield the now-exposed East Room of the Executive Mansion and provide best in class, modern security to the President and his family, his Cabinet, his staff, and visitors.”

The East Room is exposed because Trump tore down the East Wing with little notice, treating the White House as if it were his own personal, private property. A ballroom is not what is required to make the East Room secure. A ballroom is a space for social events; it is not a security buffer.

“Together, the ballroom and secure facilities throughout the Project—bomb shelters, a state of the art hospital and medical facilities, Top Secret military installations, structures, and equipment, protective partitioning, and other features—are a single integrated, complex unit that is vital for the National Security of the United States.”

How do you justify a ballroom being integral to a high-security bunker? Will there be “protective partitioning” between the ballroom and the bunker? If so, the ballroom is not integral and does not need to be built “immediately.” Also, if it is widely known that there is a bunker beneath the ballroom, how does that make either more secure? Doesn’t that put a great big fat bulls-eye on the ballroom? Shouldn’t an underground bunker be in an unknown location? And shouldn’t there be easy access from the West Wing or the Executive Mansion? It seems to me that those locations are used far more frequently than the ballroom would be.

“This Project will ensure that events like the horrific attack on Saturday night do not happen again.”

How? The WHCD is not hosted by the White House. It is a private event to which the president is invited. Trump never attended in his first term and did not attend last year. This was the first one he ever attended as POTUS. Again, will the president no longer be allowed to attend events at off-site venues? How will guests and external staff (e.g., catering staff) be vetted for events at the White House ballroom?

How will security be handled for events that take place on the grounds but outside of the ballroom; for example, events on the Rose Garden “patio” or the UFC events that will be held for Trump’s birthday in June? Will Trump make an appearance at the Fan Fest on the Ellipse? (Read the FAQs for requesting tickets to the “watch party.”) Where will the actual fights be held? Who will attend? How many people? How will that venue be secured? Even if Trump had his ballroom, it would not be suitable for a UFC event.

“In addition to the multiple classified declarations to the contrary, the attack on Saturday night is proof positive that this wrongful injunction should be dissolved. In its most recent opinion, the Court stated that there is no ‘national security justification’ for why a secure ballroom must be constructed ‘immediately.’ . . . Those assertions were wrong then, and they are indefensible now.”

How often will the ballroom be used, that it must be constructed “immediately”? Pardon me for repeating myself, but a ballroom is not required for national security. A ballroom is a space for social events; it is not a safety facility. Also, will the White House be hosting parties if the U.S. is under imminent threat by an enemy? Asserting that a ballroom is necessary for national security is indefensible.

“The fact that an assassin came mere seconds from shooting the President—along with his family, the bulk of his Cabinet, his senior staff, and the Washington press corps—lays bare that D.C. does not have a secure space for large high-profile events, or one able to ‘accommodate an event with the line of succession for the U.S. government.’ What he did on Saturday night could not have taken place in this new and highly secure facility!”

Should the line of succession ever attend the same event? There is a “designated survivor” for State of the Union speeches. Surely there should be at least one for other “large, high-profile events.” Also, attendance at the WHCD was around 2600 people, more than twice as many as the already over-scale ballroom will hold, so the WHCD could not have taken place in the “new and highly secure facility.”

The WHCD was held in an underground banquet room. The gunman did not get that far, but he did breach the checkpoint as agents were dismantling the magnetometers. Who’s to say that couldn’t happen on the White House grounds? The gunman even scoffed at security measures in his manifesto.

Having a bullet-proof ballroom with a drone-proof roof won’t do any good if someone with bad intentions can still manage to slip inside. Trump’s ballroom is a vanity project; it is not a matter of national security.

Court filing: https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.287645/gov.uscourts.dcd.287645.79.0.pdf

UFC events: https://www.ufc.com/freedom250#schedule

Manifesto: https://nypost.com/2026/04/26/us-news/read-whcd-gunman-cole-allens-full-anti-trump-manifesto/