Trump Touts 'Cocktails and Bomb Shelters' Amid Rapid Ballroom Construction
Newsweek · C · trust 62/100
0 Share Newsweek is a Trust Project member See more of our trusted coverage when you search. Prefer Newsweek on Google to see more of our trusted coverage when you search. As construction races ahead on a new White House ballroom, President Donald Trump on Wednesday described a venue where guests could enjoy cocktails before events, while boasting that the project also includes military-designed bomb shelters and other security enhancements buried five stories underground.
"They get out of the car, and they walk down this path...and they can have cocktails and everything outside of the White House, and then they go into the ballroom," Trump told reporters during a surprise look at the helipad being constructed on the South Lawn.
He continued, "Even the military, they can use it like that. We have more of so much of a military component, with the drones and the bomb shelters and everything else that we have in there. The military came to see me, and they said, 'Sir, we have an opportunity to do something incredible here.'...That goes down five stories. It goes down almost 65 feet."
A federal appeals court has ruled that Trump lacks the authority to move forward with the White House ballroom project on his own, ordering construction paused by Friday while Congress considers the proposal.
The administration has countered that previous presidents made significant alterations to the White House complex without seeking congressional approval and argues Trump is acting within that longstanding tradition. The Supreme Court has yet to indicate whether it will take up the president's appeal.
According to a filing the Trump administration submitted to the Supreme Court, roughly 250 workers are laboring up to 20 hours a day on the project, which officials said is about two-thirds complete.
Trump told reporters Wednesday, “I can’t imagine” that the Supreme Court would rule against the ballroom he’s building after he was asked about a continuing court fight to block it.
Hopefully we’ll do very well,” with the justices, Trump added.
Trump continued to argue Wednesday that the legal challenge by the National Trust for Historic Preservation to the White House ballroom project has forced the disclosure of information that might otherwise have remained confidential. At the same time, the president has publicly discussed aspects of the facility's underground infrastructure and increasingly described the project as a "military complex" rather than simply a ballroom.
During Wednesday's tour near the construction site, Trump said portions of the structure would extend five stories below ground, adding to his administration's efforts to frame the project as both an event venue and a security upgrade. Details about the depth and layout of sensitive facilities within the White House complex are typically not publicly disclosed.
Over the weekend, Trump accused the preservation group challenging his White House ballroom project of revealing “top military secrets,” labeling its members “treasonists."
“These are the TREASONISTS that brought the suit against the Military Complex,” Trump wrote in a lengthy Truth Social post, referring to the National Trust for Historic Preservation. “They revealed Top Military Secrets!”
Trump did not provide evidence that the nonprofit had disclosed classified information. He claimed the group had been shown detailed plans for the project by senior military and Secret Service officials but pursued its lawsuit despite being warned about the facility’s “Top Secret nature.”
The president said the new East Wing complex would include a rooftop “DronePort” and argued that its ballroom and security infrastructure form a single integrated structure essential to protecting presidents, their families and senior officials.
The administration’s public Supreme Court filing also describes extensive security features, including bomb shelters, sniper positions, missile-resistant construction, and facilities extending five stories underground.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation has not publicly addressed Trump’s latest “treasonists” accusation directly, but it has previously disputed similar claims from his administration.
In April, after the Justice Department alleged that the organization had been shown detailed plans for a “Top Secret” facility beneath the ballroom, the Trust told U.S. District Judge Richard Leon that it was not privy to details of the underground structure because administration officials had declined to share information beyond their public court claims.
Gregory Craig, an attorney representing the Trust, separately called the administration’s assertion that the lawsuit placed Trump’s life at “grave risk” “incorrect and irresponsible" in an April 26 letter to the Justice Department.
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This article includes reporting by the Associated Press.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Samantha Beech and Sam Wilson .
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