Trump White House ballroom unlikely to get WHCD buy-in — or end president's off-site events, critics say

A member of the media raises her hand for a question as U.S. President Donald Trump talks while holding up renderings of the planned White House ballroom, aboard Air Force One en route to Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, U.S., March 29, 2026. Elizabeth Frantz | Reuters President Donald Trump , top officials in his administration and many MAGA figures are strongly pushing for a White House ballroom to be built, citing a shooting incident just outside the White House Correspondents' Association dinner that led to his evacuation from the event at the Washington Hilton on Saturday night. Trump and his backers say building the controversial and l egally challenged $400 million grand ballroom that he envisions is essential to keeping him — and future presidents — safe from assassination attacks and other security threats. But critics argue that a ballroom at the White House would not be accepted as a substitute for a private venue for non-governmental events and that presidents would undoubtedly travel around the country and world, appearing in public at many venues. Despite that first claim, the Department of Justice, in a letter Sunday to a lawyer whose client is challenging the construction of the ballroom, suggested that the White House Correspondents' Association could have its annual dinner at the ballroom once it is built. …