Trump Blames White House Ballroom Not Being Built for Shooting Incident

BlockBeats News, April 26th, Trump tweeted: "What happened last night (referring to the White House press dinner shooting incident) is exactly why our great military, Secret Service, law enforcement, and all former presidents spanning the past 150 years for various reasons have always demanded the construction of a large, secure banquet hall inside the White House. If it weren't for the top-secret military banquet hall currently being constructed in the White House, this wouldn't have happened. The faster it is built, the better! It is not only beautiful, but equipped with all top-level security features. In addition, it does not have upstairs rooms for unauthorized personnel to enter at will, and it is located within the most secure building in the world—the White House gates. The absurd lawsuit brought up by a lady walking her dog against the banquet hall must be immediately dismissed; she is not qualified to bring such a lawsuit. Nothing should disrupt the construction of the banquet hall—it is being budgeted properly and progressing far beyond expectations!"

BlockBeats Note: The White House press dinner shooting incident took place at the Washington Hilton hotel. In July 2025, the Trump administration initiated the White House East Wing renovation plan. It planned to demolish the existing building and construct a large banquet hall of about 8,300 square meters, capable of accommodating around 1,000 people, along with supporting facilities such as an underground hospital, bomb shelter, and other security features. The budget of 300-400 million USD was fully covered by private donations (including tech giants) to address the severe space shortage issue in the current White House State Dining Room. After rapidly demolishing the East Wing, the project faced a lawsuit from organizations such as the National Historic Preservation Trust Fund for bypassing congressional authorization, national historic preservation review, and public opinion solicitation. Federal Judge Richard Leon repeatedly ruled that the president did not have the unilateral authority to extensively renovate the historically significant White House building, ordering a halt to above-ground construction. The project is currently in a legal tug-of-war state with "continuation of underground security facilities and suspension of above-ground banquet hall construction."