President Donald Trump, pictured speaking to the press about the new East Wing and ballroom last week, said after a shooting near the White House that construction must restart on the above-ground portion of the ballroom for the safety of the president and people who work there. Photo by Samuel Corum/UPI | License Photo
In the aftermath of a shooting near the White House over the weekend, the Department of Justice has asked a court to permit construction on the ballroom President Donald Trump seeks to build there.
In a court filing on Sunday, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told a court that Trump “cannot safely conduct the business of the United States” with construction on the East Wing Project, which includes the ballroom, stalled in litigation, ABC News and CBS News reported.
On Saturday, 21-year-old Nasire Best allegedly approached a White House checkpoint, pulled a firearm from his bag and opened fire before being fatally shot by the Secret Service, law enforcement said.
The Justice Department made a similar request after a man rushed the White House Press Correspondents Association Dinner — where Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance, first lady Melania Trump and a variety of cabinet and administration members were present — in April with a gun before being arrested by Secret Service agents.
“This second attack on the President this month underscores the critical need for top level, state of the art security at the White House,” Blanche wrote in the court filing.
This includes “the Ballroom, a knitted, unified, cohesive part of the East Wing Project, which is vital for national security and is being constructed to ensure that the President can perform his constitutional duties in a safe and heavily secured facility,” he wrote.
In the aftermath of Saturday’s shooting, Trump, who was in the White House residence at the time and was unharmed, thanked the Secret Service for stopping Best.
Best, who was already known of by law enforcement, had previously posted threatening statements online and twice was detained for once attempting to block an entry lane to the White House and on another occasion attempted to enter a driveway onto the property.
Trump also noted that Saturday’s incident “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.”
Construction of the above-ground portion of the ballroom was halted by U.S. District Judge Richard Leon on April 1, with a hearing schedule for June 5, pending approval and oversight from Congress, among other permitting requirements.
This week in Washington
Kevin Warsh takes the oath of office as he is sworn-in as the new chairman of the Federal Reserve by Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas in the East Room of the White House on Friday. Photo by Yuri Gripas/UPI | License Photo
