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

Canter noted that if Trump or other presidents insisted on having events at which they are guests in the ballroom, “It would give him control over the invitation list.”

She said she expected that would be a non-starter for White House Correspondents’ Association.

White House spokesman Davis Ingle, in a statement Tuesday when asked about criticism of the ballroom, said, “As President Trump has repeatedly said, the White House is long overdue for a safe and secure facility that can host large public gatherings without jeopardizing the President’s safety and the safety of all staff, guests, and visitors.”

“The Ballroom is carefully designed with enhanced security features — including bulletproof glass, drone detection technologies, projectile resistant materials, and a host of other national security functions that will make it the safest ballroom anywhere in the world,” Ingle said.

Dylan Hedtler-Gaudette, acting vice president of policy and government affairs at the Project On Government Oversight, another advocacy group, said, “There’s a pretty legitimate case … that there needs to be a larger entertainment space” at the White House.

“I don’t think it’s a totally preposterous idea,” Hedtler-Gaudette said, noting that currently, when the White House hosts large events such as dinners, it sets up a tent on the lawn.

But Hedtler-Gaudette objected to the way Trump’s ballroom project has been rolled out, without authorization for Congress, without input from other government entities that would normally weigh in on the design and scope of such a building, and with private funding from companies that do business with and are subject to regulatory oversight with the federal government.

He also pointed to Trump’s reference to the ballroom in a White House press conference shortly after he was evacuated on Saturday after the shooting at the Hilton, and the widespread use of that incident as an argument for the ballroom on Sunday by his supporters on social media.

“When it’s that quick, and it’s that universal, it seems pretextual,” Hedtler-Gaudette said.

He said that the shooting, which led to the arrest of a California man on charges of trying to assassinate Trump and other counts, is “very serious.”

“Trying to exploit that” while the ballroom is facing legal pushback and while it is not supported by a majority of the public, “just seems pretty gross to me,” Hedtler-Gaudette said.

He was skeptical that the ballroom, if built, would be used often by outside groups, as Trump has suggested.

“How likely is the White House to allow a trade association to rent out [the ballroom] to host a dinner?” Hedtler-Gaudette asked.

He said that while Trump is in office, groups that might be apt to use the ballroom, “I could imagine …. that it would be some sort of the broader MAGA ecosystem,” referring to the president’s “Make America Great Again” movement.

The DOJ, which is defending Trump in the lawsuit challenging the ballroom, in a court filing Monday night doubled down on its attack on the National Trust for Historic Preservation — calling the group’s very name “FAKE” — in arguing that a federal judge dissolve an injunction that would block construction.

“Saturday’s narrow miss — which marks the third assassination attempt on President Trump since 2024 —confirms what should have already been obvious,” wrote Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.

“Presidents need a secure space for large events, that currently does not exist in Washington, D.C., and this Court’s injunction stalling this Project cannot defensibly continue, for the sake of the safety of President Trump, future Presidents, and their families, Cabinets, and staff,” Blanche wrote.

Article source: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/04/28/trump-white-house-ballroom-whcd.html