Americas

Americas

Trump makes pitch for White House ballroom after security incident

26 April 2026 06:30 (UTC +04:00)

President Donald Trump used Saturday’s security breach at the Washington Hilton to make the case for the ballroom he is constructing at the White House, suggesting the structure would provide a more secure location for future events, APA reports citing CNN.

“It’s not a particularly secure building, and I didn’t want to say this, but this is why we have to have all of the attributes of what we’re planning at the White House,” Trump said during his news conference. “It’s actually a larger room, and it’s much more secure. It’s got drone proof. It’s bulletproof glass. We need the ballroom. That’s why Secret Service, that’s why the military are demanding it.”

The 90,000-square-foot ballroom that’s being built atop the former East Wing contains a number of security features, Trump has said previously. He has said the addition is necessary for hosting large state events.

“They’ve wanted the ballroom for 150 years for lots of different reasons, but today’s a little bit different, because today we need levels of security that probably nobody’s ever seen before,” he said.