Trump blames the shooting incident on the White House banquet hall not being built.

Mars Finance News, Trump posted: “What happened last night (referring to the White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting incident) is precisely the reason why our great military, the Secret Service, law enforcement agencies, and the presidents going back 150 years— for different reasons—have always demanded the construction of a large, secure, and reliable banquet hall inside the White House. Without this top-secret military banquet hall currently being built in the White House, this would not have happened. The faster it’s built, the better! It’s not only beautiful, but also equipped with all the highest-level security facilities. In addition, it has no upstairs rooms where people without security clearance can enter at will, and it is located within the gates of the most secure building in the world—the White House. A ridiculous banquet-hall lawsuit brought up by a woman walking her dog must be dismissed immediately; she is not qualified to file such a lawsuit. Nothing should interfere with the construction of the banquet hall. Its budget is well managed, and its progress far exceeds expectations!” It is reported that the White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting incident took place at the Washington Hilton Hotel. In July 2025, the Trump administration launched the East Wing renovation plan for the White House, planning to demolish the existing building and build a large banquet hall of about 8,300 square meters that can accommodate about 1,000 people, while also adding security facilities such as an underground hospital and bomb shelters. The budget of 300–400 million USD will be entirely covered by private donations (including tech giants and others) to address the severe lack of space in the current White House state banquet hall. After the East Wing was quickly demolished, however, the project was sued by organizations including the National Trust for Historic Preservation for bypassing congressional authorization, the national historic preservation review, and the public opinion solicitation procedures. Federal Judge Richard Leon has repeatedly ruled that the president does not have the authority to unilaterally carry out large-scale renovations of historically significant White House buildings, and he ordered a halt to the above-ground portion of the construction. The case is currently in a legal standoff—“the underground security facilities may continue, while the main banquet hall above ground is paused.”