Background: The arena for the UFC Freedom 250 fights is pictured on the South Lawn of the White House, top, and at the Ellipse, bottom, as construction of the ballroom continues at right, in Washington, Thursday, June 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson). Inset: FILE – President Donald Trump speaks to the media, Friday, June 27, 2025, in the briefing room of the White House in Washington (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File).
The Trump administration has launched its latest effort to secure the construction of a new White House ballroom — arguing that an alleged plot to attack "high value targets" at the UFC event there necessitates the establishment of the structure.
"[T]he repeated assassination attempts and plots against President [Donald] Trump and those around him demonstrate the National Security imperative for a bullet proof, drone proof Ballroom to protect the President, all future Presidents, their Cabinets, staffs, families, and guests," the two-page filing from the Department of Justice (DOJ) reads.
The Trump administration has expressed its desire for a new White House ballroom for months, and it stepped up its efforts by demolishing the East Wing of the White House. Legal challenges ensued, including one from an asbestos victims' advocacy organization seeking environmental records about the project, and one from the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which argued that the demolition came "without seeking approval from Congress" and without proper oversight.
In April, a federal judge blocked the $400 million project over safety concerns, writing that the "existence of a 'large hole' beside the White House is, of course, a problem of the President's own making!"
The DOJ subsequently appealed his injunction, with Trump even warning that Senior U.S. District Judge Richard Leon "should stop playing games with America's Security!" He also ridiculed Alison Hoagland, the architectural historian whose aesthetic injury claim was accepted by the judge in the early stages of the case.
But now, as the case sits before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, the Trump administration has reiterated its call for security, pointing to a specific recent development.
On Tuesday, the DOJ announced that five men were arrested on conspiracy charges for trying to "execute a mass casualty event targeting U.S. officials in attendance" at the UFC event held on the White House grounds last weekend. The men "allegedly planned to deploy drones armed with explosives in and around the UFC Freedom 250 event in order to force an evacuation of the event and then planned to deploy snipers to fire upon 'high value targets' within the fleeing crowd."
To the Trump administration, this alleged plot "confirms" the national security "imperative" of reversing Leon's decision and getting the ballroom built as soon as possible.
"This latest assassination plot against President Trump and dignitaries at the White House demonstrates the compelling need for the East Wing Project, with a Ballroom designed to defend against just such attacks," the DOJ filing this week reads. Officials say the new facility will include a "Drone Port" and "Sniper Nests" on top, as well as "missile resistant columns, bullet, ballistic, and blast proof glass windows," and more safety mechanisms inside.
"The Ballroom's mass and height will shield the White House grounds from attack, and give the Secret Service the visibility needed to identify attackers," the filing goes on. "It will protect the President and guests at major events that are currently held in 'plastic tents that cannot even protect highly esteemed guests from inclement weather, let alone high caliber bullets or kamikaze drones'—exactly the attack that this Sunday's would-be assassins plotted to launch."
Trump has asserted that private donors would completely pay for the sprawling project. However, records reviewed by The Washington Post indicate that the effort would actually cost $600 million — and more than half of that cost would come from taxpayers.
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