{"id":41658,"date":"2026-04-27T16:03:54","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T14:03:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magazine.luxus-plus.com\/?p=41658"},"modified":"2026-04-28T14:28:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T12:28:14","slug":"ballroom-at-the-white-house-donald-trumps-project-at-the-center-of-controversy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magazine.luxus-plus.com\/en\/ballroom-at-the-white-house-donald-trumps-project-at-the-center-of-controversy\/","title":{"rendered":"The shooting at the Press Gala in Washington has reignited Donald Trump’s plan for a ballroom at the White House"},"content":{"rendered":"

Envisioned as a flagship symbol of American prestige, the future ballroom desired by Donald Trump at the White House is now at the heart of a heated controversy. Between legal obstruction, architectural criticism, and political questions, this extraordinary construction project goes far beyond a simple presidential renovation. Following the shooting at the Correspondents’ Dinner on the night of April 26, the project has taken on a new dimension.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

And that makes five…<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

With the incident on April 26, when gunshots<\/b> were heard during the traditional Press Gala at the Hilton Hotel in Washington<\/b>, Donald Trump <\/b>has survived five assassination attempts in ten years<\/b>! This is unprecedented in American presidential history, reinforcing the need to strengthen national security.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Prevented by the Secret Service\u2014the special forces responsible for his security\u2014from returning to the room in the midst of an exfiltration procedure<\/b>, the 47th President of the United States was unable to present to the world\u2019s cameras the resilient and combative image he had displayed during the assassination attempt he suffered in Pennsylvania in July 2024, in which he was wounded in the ear. A few minutes after the attacker\u2019s arrest, while congratulating law enforcement for their bravery and denouncing the failed attack by a \u201ccrazy lone wolf\u201d<\/b>, Donald Trump took the opportunity to emphasize the necessity of his White House ballroom project.<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It was meant to embody the grandeur and revival of grand American receptions, but for several months now, this project has been a focal point of tension<\/b>. Paused by the courts, criticized by architects, and shrouded in mystery<\/b>, this extraordinary construction project tells a story far beyond a simple expansion<\/b>: it speaks to how Trump conceives of power<\/b>\u2026 and the setting that accompanies it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A scene of chaos<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

On the evening of April 26<\/b> at 9 p.m. (3 a.m. Paris time)<\/b>, Donald Trump was scheduled to address the state of the war in Iran<\/b>. A solemn address that was to take place during the traditional Correspondents\u2019 Dinner at the Hilton Hotel in Washington<\/b>. This annual social event, which brings together media professionals and celebrities, is also one of the rare moments<\/b> on the official calendar when several key figures in American politics are gathered in one place.<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

That evening, in attendance were U.S. President<\/b> Donald Trump, U.S. Vice President<\/b> JD. Vance, Secretary of State<\/b> Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense<\/b> Pete Hegseth, and FBI Director<\/b> Kash Patel. Aside from the FBI Director, it was these top officials of the Trump administration<\/b>\u2014including current President Donald Trump\u2014that a 31-year-old mechanical engineer from California planned to eliminate.<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Heavily armed<\/b> (with an assault rifle, two handguns, and knives), Cole Thomas Allen<\/b>, having booked a room the night before at this luxury hotel, managed to breach the security system on the hotel\u2019s mezzanine level.<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"
\u00a9 <\/span>DR<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

A few minutes before the ceremony began, gunshots rang out<\/b>, barely audible to the guests in the hotel ballroom where the gala was being held as the orchestra played and dinner began to be served. A few meters away, the assailant had just wounded a security guard.<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In accordance with security protocol, the Secret Service<\/b> rushed to bring the Vice President and the President of the United States to safety<\/b>, while law enforcement officers ordered the guests in evening attire to get down on the ground. The layout of the room, with a high density of tables<\/b> very close together, complicated the operation, forcing some agents to step over tables.<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

After managing to take refuge on the floor directly above the room, the assailant was finally apprehended. No guests were injured.<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Failed security measures?<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

Were there flaws in the security measures surrounding the President of the United States<\/b>? On social media, the answer is clear: although he did not manage to enter the ballroom, how was an individual able to bring in heavy weapons and get so close to the President?<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Several witnesses expressed surprise at the lack of security checks inside the hotel<\/b>, with guests reporting that they were required to present nothing more than what amounted to a simple ticket<\/b>, without any prior screening, as the security checkpoints were located further along the route, immediately adjacent to the ballroom.<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Washington Post also highlighted a gray area within the building itself<\/b>. Specifically, the Secret Service<\/b> considered that only the ballroom<\/b> fell under its responsibility, while the Washington police were tasked with closing roads and directing traffic around the hotel.<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Keeping his cool and clearly less shaken by the incident than his wife Melania, Donald Trump took the opportunity to bring his White House ballroom project back to the table.<\/strong> \u201cThis incident would never have happened with the Top Secret ballroom currently under construction at the White House,\u201d the U.S. president was quick to write on social media in a post published on Sunday.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

8,000 m\u00b2, 1,000 guests<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

On paper, the idea is appealing: a vast hall capable of hosting up to a thousand guests<\/strong>, designed to replace temporary tents<\/strong> deemed unworthy of state dinners. Donald Trump, true to his taste for spectacle, envisions a space on par with the great diplomatic capitals.<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But reality has caught up. At the end of March 2026, a federal judge ordered the suspension of construction<\/strong>, recalling a fundamental principle: the White House is not private property<\/strong>. Behind this decision, a deeper criticism emerges – that of a project launched without clear congressional approval<\/strong>, in a legal gray area that raises questions about the limits of executive power.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"
\u00a9 The White House<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

The ballroom project proposed by Donald Trump at the White House stands out for its exceptional scale. Planned over an area of around 8,000 m\u00b2<\/strong>, the building would include a vast main hall of nearly 2,000 m\u00b2, capable of accommodating up to 1,000 guests<\/strong>. With a height of about 12 meters<\/strong>, the space would be designed to rival the largest official reception halls in the world.<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But it is not just a hall: the project includes a full complex featuring a large reception area, administrative offices<\/strong> – including for the First Lady – as well as a renovated cinema<\/strong>. The entire structure is to be built in place of the East Wing, demolished in 2025.<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Up to $400 million in investment<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

The cost is equally striking. Initially estimated at $200 million, it is now said to reach around $400 million, largely financed by private funds<\/strong>. As often with Trump, the promise of a project \u201cat no cost to taxpayers,\u201d funded privately, does not quell concerns. On the contrary, it fuels suspicions of influence and conflicts of interest<\/strong>. As a result, the ballroom, intended to embody American prestige, has become a contentious issue at the heart of Washington.<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"
Unsplash<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Adding to this is a more opaque dimension<\/strong>: Donald Trump claims that a \u201cmassive military complex\u201d<\/strong> is also being built beneath the hall<\/strong>. This further blurs the line between the staging of power and strategic reality.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Read also : The Jeffrey Epstein case: the fall from grace of former Prince Andrew<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Featured photo : Unsplash<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Envisioned as a flagship symbol of American prestige, the future ballroom desired by Donald Trump at the White House is now at the heart of a heated controversy. Between legal obstruction, architectural criticism, and political questions, this extraordinary construction project goes far beyond a simple presidential renovation. Following the shooting at the Correspondents’ Dinner on the night of April 26, the project has taken on a new dimension.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":42239,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"%%post_title%% %%sep%% %%sitetitle%%","_seopress_titles_desc":"Envisioned as a flagship symbol of American prestige, the future ballroom desired by Donald Trump at the White House is now at the heart of a heated controversy.","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"both","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":301,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,646],"tags":[243,541,798,207],"class_list":["post-41658","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-society","tag-culture-en","tag-donald-trump-en","tag-etats-unis-en","tag-politique-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.luxus-plus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41658","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.luxus-plus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.luxus-plus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.luxus-plus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.luxus-plus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41658"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.luxus-plus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41658\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.luxus-plus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42239"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.luxus-plus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41658"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.luxus-plus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41658"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.luxus-plus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41658"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}