President Donald Trump returns to the White House, after Israel and the U.S. launched strikes on Iran, in Washington, D.C., March 1, 2026. REUTERS/Nathan Howard
The White House is gradually being converted into something of a bunker for President Donald Trump, according to a new analysis from The Atlantic, as incidents of political violence seemingly targeting him have "gone exponential" compared to years past.
On Monday, Atlantic staff writer Matt Viser published the piece, arguing that Trump's White House was becoming a new "green zone," a military term referring to an area kept safe amidst a war zone with heavy fortification and security measures.
"Three times in four weeks, gunfire has broken out as federal agents were protecting the president and vice president in the vicinity of the White House," Viser detailed. "Three months ago, a man was shot and killed after entering the Mar-a-Lago security perimeter with a shotgun and fuel can. Three months before that, two National Guard members were shot just blocks from the White House. The Secret Service, which says it has protections all around the building — some visible, some not — has a division that over the past year has been studying the rise in violent rhetoric and action to get at the question: What is driving the attacks — and can they be headed off in advance?"
Viser further cited alarming new statistics from the Secret Service that reveal the scale of this uptick in violence: the security force has already investigated 40 percent more cases this year compared to the same timeframe in 2025. Among those cases, there have been seven times the number of cases involving suspects with "mental-health issues" compared to last year. The agency told Viser that this trend is creating "an unprecedented threat environment."
“In the past, there have been some peak periods where we had maybe a really large uptick for a month or two,” Matthew Quinn, the deputy director of the Secret Service, said. “But for us right now, it’s not a linear increase anymore. It’s really gone exponential.”
In response to this surge, the White House is becoming ever more fortified with security measures, and becoming more and more closed off from the public.
"The 18-acre site is laced with fencing, sensors, jammers, cameras, armed guards, bunkers, drone interceptors, and surface-to-air missiles — all of which speak to how we now protect, and isolate, our leaders. Tourists can no longer approach the 13-foot fence that rings the compound," Viser explained. "Additional fencing went up in January around Lafayette Square, which remains under construction, and prevents access from the north. The perimeter to the south extends near Independence Avenue; the area around the Ellipse was closed last month. It’s impossible to enter from the east, through the barriers and construction where the East Wing once stood. And a battery of security vehicles, police on bikes, and Secret Service agents stand guard from the west."
Trump himself seems increasingly paranoid about the threat of violence, reflected in his obsession with the security precautions of his wildly unpopular ballroom project. The structure is reportedly set to include a new bunker deep beneath the main area, complete with a full medical facility. In a recent post to Truth Social, Trump also claimed that it will include a drone port on the roof.