FBI agents after a shooting incident near the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 23, 2026. REUTERS/Kylie Cooper
Early Saturday evening, May 23 during Memorial Day Weekend, U.S. Secret Service agents exchanged fire with a gunman who was approaching a White House security checkpoint in Washington, DC. The gunman was killed, and President Donald Trump is responding to the incident by arguing that it makes a case for his White House ballroom. And Trump's legal team makes that argument in a court filing posted online the day after the incident.
Politico legal affairs reporter Josh Gerstein posted the six-page legal document on X, formerly Twitter, noting how decidedly Trumpian the language in the filing is.
Gerstein tweeted, "JUST IN: Another court filing obviously written by Trump, seeks to leverage shooting Saturday to end litigation over WH ballroom project. Calls latest episode 'assassination attempt.' Cites news reports, but no other proof/legal cases. Ends w/a '!"
The filing in National Trust For Historic Preservation, Plaintiff, v. National Park Service, as Gerstein points out, is full of Trump Administration talking points.
"On Saturday night, May 23rd," the document reads, "a shooter once again sought to murder the President, his family, and his staff at the historic White House complex. We submit this urgent filing to update the Court on a second attempted assassination on the President within a single month. Last night, shortly after 6:00 p.m., an armed assassin approached a White House security checkpoint near 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, professionally pulled a high caliber gun from a bag, and opened fire in the exact direction of the White House. Brave Secret Service officers returned fire. The gunman was killed and an innocent bystander was seriously wounded in the shooting."
Many of Trump's critics are attacking the proposed ballroom as a vanity project that will cost taxpayers a fortune. But the court filing claims that the ballroom is necessary from a national security standpoint.
"This second attack on the President this month underscores the critical need for top level, state of the art security at the White House, including the Ballroom, a knitted, unified, cohesive part of the East Wing Project, which is vital for National Security, and is being constructed to ensure that the President can perform his constitutional duties in a safe and heavily secured facility," the filing states. "This court's unlawful injunction has wrongfully cast a cloud of uncertainty around the future of the entire East Wing Project, which is being constructed for the physical safety and security of all Presidents, their families, staff, Foreign Dignitaries, and guests. When completed, this highly knitted, integrated, and unified Project, which is a singular and vital National Security facility, will provide a 'SAFE HAVEN' from attackers such as the one last night, and on April 25th. It will provide a highly secure space for future Inaugurations, and other major events, such as the recent visit of the King and Queen of the United Kingdom, and the coming visit in September of President Xi of China."
The document also states that the "under construction East Wing Project, which is on time and under budget, includes state of the art security features to repel all attacks against the President, his family, his staff, and esteemed visitors."
"These include a heavy steel, drone proof roof, missile resistant and drone proof columns, bullet, ballistic, and blast proof glass, Military grade venting for air conditioning and heating, and much more," the Trump Administration writes. "Together, the entire Facility, which includes bomb shelters, a state of the art hospital and medical facilities, Top Secret military installations, structures, and equipment, protective partitioning, and other features, is a single integrated, complex unit that is vital for the National Security of the United States."
