Washington, April 26 (IANS). US President Donald Trump has again intensified the demand for building a safe ballroom inside the White House after the firing incident at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday. He says that this incident has shown how risky it can be to hold big events outside the presidential complex.
Hours after being safely evacuated from the Washington Hilton, Trump said that this attack clearly shows the need for a permanent and highly secure space inside the White House.
“What happened last night is why our military, Secret Service, and law enforcement agencies have long been demanding that a large, secure ballroom be built inside the White House,” he wrote on Truth Social.
He also said that this incident would never have happened had the ballroom been in place and would have had the highest level of security features.
Trump has been talking about building a ballroom of about 90,000 square feet in the White House complex for a long time, but there are legal hurdles in this project. Now he says that these obstacles should be removed immediately.
He said that it should be built as soon as possible and this place will be inside the most secure building in the world.
This proposal has been under debate for the last several months. The courts are looking at whether the correct procedures have been followed. Trump said the legal challenges should be ended immediately because it is a matter of national security.
The White House Correspondents’ Dinner held each year is usually held at the Washington Hilton, as the White House does not have such a large space. Journalists, senior officials and many famous people participate in this program, hence it is considered one of the biggest programs in America.
Trump criticized the current location, saying it is not as safe as a purpose-built location could be. He said this is not a particularly safe building.
He also praised the security agencies and said that because of them the situation did not get worse. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche also said that you saw that the law and order system did its job completely correctly.
After Saturday’s incident, the discussion on this issue has intensified, because the government is thinking how to make the programs related to top leaders more secure.
–IANS
AY/DKP