DOJ cites White House Correspondents Dinner shooting in push to drop lawsuit against ballroom

The Justice Department is pressing the leading opposition to President Donald Trump’s $400 million privately funded ballroom project, calling on lawyers for the National Trust for Historic Preservation (NTHP) to drop their lawsuit.

“[Y]our lawsuit puts the lives of the president, his family, and his staff at grave risk,” Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Brett Shumate wrote in a Sunday letter to opposing counsel, shared on X by Attorney General Todd Blanche.

“Enough is enough,” the Shumate continued. Your client should voluntarily dismiss this frivolous lawsuit today in light of last night’s assassination attempt on President Trump.”

Shumate vowed that if the NTHP did not move to dismiss by 9 a.m. Monday morning, he would move to dissolve the injunction against the ballroom’s construction and to dismiss the case.

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“It’s time to build the ballroom,” Blanche agreed, in his X post, echoing Trump’s words during the impromptu White House briefing after dodging his third assassination attempt by a crazed gunman who rushed the White House Correspondents’ Dinner Saturday night.

“The shooter targeted President Trump at the Washington Hilton, the only ballroom in Washington, D.C., suitable to host large gatherings for the President, where another shooter targeted President Reagan 45 years ago,” Shumate noted in his letter to Greg B. Craig of Foley Hoag LLP, pointing to the historical context of former President Ronald Reagan’s near-assassination at the same location.

“As history proves, that venue is demonstrably unsafe for the President of the United States because its size presents extraordinary security challenges for the Secret Service.

“[Saturday’s] assassination attempt on President Trump proves, yet again, that the White House ballroom is essential for the safety and security of the President, his family, his cabinet, and his staff.”

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“I hope [Saturday’s] narrow miss will help you finally realize that filing a lawsuit that literally serves no purpose except to stop President Trump no matter the cost,” Shumate wrote.

The NTHP sued the National Park Service in December, a week after the White House finished demolishing the East Wing for a 90,000-square-foot (8,400-square-meter) ballroom.

The group claimed Trump exceeded his authority when he demolished the East Wing — built in 1902 during Theodore Roosevelt’s presidency and expanded in 1942 — arguing the president needed congressional authorization to do so.

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Trump has said the president has historically had say over the White House remodeling, and has long noted that Congress does not have to pay for the privately funded project.

A lower court had issued a March 31 injunction to halt ballroom construction, but it also paused that injunction to allow for an appeal.

The White House argued the obstruction left the White House “open and exposed,” threatening security for the building, the president and his family and staff.

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“When the White House ballroom is complete, President Trump and his successors will no longer need to venture beyond the safety of the White House perimeter to attend large gatherings at the Washington Hilton ballroom,” Shumate wrote.

Forcing the president and Cabinet to attend events outside the White House grounds is too dangerous in this political climate, Trump himself argued Sunday night on CBS’s “60 Minutes.”

“I’m building a safe ballroom,” Trump said. “And one of the reasons I’m building it is exactly what happened last night.

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“This is exactly why the military, and this is exactly why Secret Service and all law enforcement want it.

“Because you have maybe 1,000 hotel rooms above the ballroom we were in [Saturday] night. And I’m not knocking it. I’m just saying in terms of maximum security — it’s not the best thing. You can do it, but you can have problems like this.”

The obstruction by lawsuits is potentially delaying the project, Trump added.

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“I wish it could be even sooner,” Trump said. “We’re months ahead of schedule, but it doesn’t open till ’28.”