Senator John Fetterman, a Pennsylvania Democrat, said Sunday the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) dinner proved President Donald Trump’s case for the construction of a White House ballroom.
“We were there front and center,” the senator wrote on X. “That venue wasn’t built to accommodate an event with the line of succession for the U.S. government.”
“After witnessing last night, drop the TDS and build the White House ballroom for events exactly like these,” he added, referring to “Trump Derangement Syndrome,” a popular term used by the president’s supporters to highlight what deem to be “acute onset of paranoia” regarding the Trump presidencies.
Fetterman also posted a headline from Mediaite that read: “I was inside the Washington Hilton tonight. The security was downright awful.”
While many Democrats have criticized the project as an unnecessary, Fetterman has emerged as its most prominent defender from across the aisle.
Former Fox News host Geraldo Rivera also reiterated the need for the new ballroom, writing on X on Sunday morning: “Build the Ballroom. I felt I was watching Designated Survivor. Virtually the entire line of presidential succession was in that lame Hilton space. Way too freaky dangerous. Build the Ballroom.”
On Saturday night, a suspect identified as 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen, breached security at the WHCA dinner at the Washington Hilton and opened fire, forcing the Secret Service to evacuate Trump and members of his Cabinet. The president was expected to deliver remarks at the dinner.
In video that Trump posted to Truth Social, the suspect can be seen sprinting through a security checkpoint, which had a metal detector, and past security guards. The dinner was being held one floor below in the ballroom.
Metropolitan Police later identified the weapons as a shotgun, a handgun and “multiple knives.” The suspect shot a Secret Service agent, but hit him in his vest, preventing serious injury. Law enforcement then took down Allen and apprehended him.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche also said officials believe the suspect traveled by train from California to Chicago and then on to Washington, DC, where he checked in as a guest to the hotel. “We’re still investigating a motive, ” he said, which could take a couple of days at the least.
Trump’s Push for New White House Ballroom
The president has pursued the building of a massive new ballroom at the White House to accommodate large gatherings, often complaining the president should have the ability to host high-level events.
“What happened last night is exactly the reason that our great Military, Secret Service, Law Enforcement and, for different reasons, every President for the last 150 years, have been DEMANDING that a large, safe, and secure Ballroom be built ON THE GROUNDS OF THE WHITE HOUSE,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Sunday morning. “This event would never have happened with the Militarily Top Secret Ballroom currently under construction at the White House. It cannot be built fast enough! While beautiful, it has every highest level security feature there is plus, there are no rooms sitting on top for unsecured people to pour in, and is inside the gates of the most secure building in the World, The White House.”
The president continued: “The ridiculous Ballroom lawsuit, brought by a woman walking her dog, who has absolutely No Standing to bring such a suit, must be dropped, immediately. Nothing should be allowed to interfere with with its construction, which is on budget and substantially ahead of schedule!!!”
His team has also argued the ballroom would provide greater safety and security. During an appeals hearing about the construction of the ballroom, which was halted earlier this month by a judge citing a lack of congressional approval, lawyers for the president argued that stopping the project would endanger the Trump family.
Construction of the $400 million ballroom began in September 2025, which involved the demolition of the existing East Wing. The ballroom’s final design received approval from the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC).
While the argument was more broadly about the exposed security at the White House that an unfinished construction would pose, it all unfolded against the backdrop of two previous attempts on the president’s life, including the 2024 assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, where a gunman opened fire at a campaign rally, killing one attendee and wounding others. Trump was grazed by a bullet and evacuated by the Secret Service, an episode that dramatically heightened threat assessments involving Trump and his family. The suspected gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks, was killed by a Secret Service counter sniper team.
Since then, officials have repeatedly pointed to ongoing threats against Trump and members of the Trump family, both during travel and at fixed sites.
Previous Attempts on Trump’s Life
It currently remains unclear if Allen was targeting Trump when he tried to enter the WHCA dinner, but it would be the fifth confirmed attempt on the president’s life if confirmed.
The attempt in Butler remains the most well-known and high-profile attempt on the president’s life, but just months later in Palm Beach, Florida, Secret Service agents spotted a man, later identified as Ryan Routh, aiming a rifle through the shrubbery along a fairway at Trump’s golf course. The agent aimed the rifle at the agent, who opened fire and forced Routh to flee. Routh was subsequently arrested, charged, and convicted of trying to assassinate the president, and was sentenced to life in prison.
On June 18, 2016, a man attempted to steal a police officer’s firearm and use it on Trump, during a rally in Las Vegas. The suspect, 20-year-old Michael Steven Sandford, was visiting the U.S. from the United Kingdom.
Sandford was immediately subdued by the officer and was taken into custody by the Secret Service. He later told officials his plan had been to kill Trump, who was speaking at the Treasure Island Hotel and Casino.
On September 6, 2017, Gregory Lee Leingang stole a forklift from a North Dakota oil refinery, with the intent of driving it into Trump’s presidential vehicle while he was en route to a rally. Leingang was stopped before reaching the motorcade after the vehicle got stuck in the refinery.
Officials originally thought that Leingang had stolen the forklift for a much less serious reason and only reevaluated the seriousness after he confessed to trying to kill the then-president by flipping the vehicle.
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