Trump administration says White House ballroom construction is a matter of national security

The Trump administration said Monday in a court filing that the president’s White House ballroom construction project must continue for reasons of national security. The filing came in response to a lawsuit filed last Friday by the National Trust for Historic Preservation asking a federal judge to halt the project until it goes through multiple independent reviews and wins approval from Congress. In its filing, the administration included a declaration from the deputy director of the U.S. Secret Service saying more work on the site of the former White House East Wing is still needed to meet the agency’s “safety and security requirements.”