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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
World
Meg Kinnard

Justice Department cites dinner shooting to press preservationists to drop Trump ballroom suit

APTOPIX Trump White House Correspondents Dinner - (Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

President Donald Trump’s Justice Department is using the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday to try to pressure preservationists to drop their lawsuit over his planned $400 million ballroom on the site of the former East Wing of the White House.

“It’s time to build the ballroom,” acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said plainly Sunday on X, posting a letter in which Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate gave the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which has sued to block construction, until 9 a.m. Monday to dismiss its lawsuit.

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