President Donald Trump intensified his efforts to promote the upgraded White House ballroom project this week. He announced that the new building will include a top-tier “DronePort” and issued a warning to the federal judge who has sought to block the construction plans.
In a Truth Social post, Trump gave the new security feature its first public name: DronePort, adding that it “will be, perhaps, the most sophisticated anywhere in the World” and that it “will safeguard our Nation’s Capital, Washington, D.C., long into the future.”
The post captioned an AI-generated rendering showing military drones organized across a rooftop landing platform overlooking the National Mall, with soldiers standing at attention beside the drones, while fireworks burst over the Washington Monument in the background.
Turning Up the Heat
In the same Truth Social post, Trump mentioned District Judge Richard Leon, who has repeatedly blocked the construction project in federal court.
“Judge Richard Leon should stop playing games with America’s Security!” Trump wrote. “If anything happens, he will be held responsible for the Death and Destruction caused to our Country.”
Trump accused the judge of causing harm by allowing what he characterized as classified details to become public through the ongoing lawsuit. “He has already created enough problems by allowing ‘Top Secret’ information to be released and exposed,” Trump added.
As The Dallas Express has previously reported, the President first mentioned the project’s classified nature in January, sharing that the ballroom was being built “working closely with, right from the beginning, the United States Military and Secret Service.” At that time, he warned that a lawsuit had “unfortunately, exposed this heretofore Top Secret fact.”
In March, aboard Air Force One, Trump explained more about the project, describing the 90,000-square-foot ballroom as essentially a surface-level cover for a huge underground military complex built beneath it. “The military is building a massive complex under the ballroom,” Trump said, adding that the ballroom “becomes a shed for what’s being built under the military, including from drones.”
The Lawsuit
Trump also called out the plaintiff in the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s (NTHP) legal challenge, describing her as a “highly litigious woman (serial plaintiff!)” and dismissing her concern that her “strolling” would be disrupted by the new structure as frivolous. He called for the lawsuit to be thrown out “IMMEDIATELY,” arguing the plaintiff has “absolutely no STANDING.”
The NTHP has not backed down.
President and CEO of the NTHP, Carol Quillen, previously stated that the group had no plans to voluntarily dismiss the case, calling it a straightforward request for the administration to follow the law.
“We’re grateful to the Secret Service and DC law enforcement officers for keeping the President and all guests safe at this weekend’s White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner. We are not planning to voluntarily dismiss our lawsuit, which endangers no one and which respectfully asks the Administration to follow the law. Ballroom construction is continuing unabated until June 5th at the earliest because the injunction is on hold,” Quillen’s statement from April 27 reads. “We have always acknowledged the utility of a larger meeting space at the White House. Building it lawfully requires the approval of Congress, which the Administration could seek at any time.”
Judge Leon has previously ruled that construction could not proceed without congressional approval. The D.C. Circuit temporarily stayed that order, allowing work to continue at least until June 5, when an appeals panel is set to hear oral arguments.
Why the Urgency
Trump’s push for the DronePort and upgraded ballroom security construction project is driven, in part, by two recent security incidents.
On April 25, a man was charged with trying to assassinate the President at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. Afterward, Trump argued the new ballroom would have stopped the attack completely. Only a few weeks later, on May 23, a 21-year-old man from Maryland opened fire on Secret Service officers at a checkpoint near the White House before being shot and killed, as previously reported by DX. The Justice Department cited both incidents in recent court filings, urging Judge Leon to lift the injunction and emphasizing the need for a more secure ballroom.
Trump made the case, once again, in his Monday post, writing: “With the advent of highly sophisticated, and powerful, modern day weaponry, we can no longer defend Washington, D.C., with rifles and pistols, alone.”
What Comes Next
The upgraded ballroom project, which won unanimous approval from the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts in February, is now approaching a crucial legal milestone. Oral arguments before the D.C. Circuit on June 5 could decide whether construction proceeds without further delay or faces another court-ordered stop.
For Trump, he has repeatedly stressed that not a single taxpayer dollar is being used – the entire project is being funded by private donors.
