WASHINGTON — On Sunday, President Trump disclosed that a substantial military complex is currently being constructed beneath the White House ballroom, shedding light on a clandestine project recently unveiled through a lawsuit.
The ballroom is designed to be located above the historic “doomsday” nuclear bunker, which was originally constructed in the 1940s to ensure presidential safety during wartime.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump expressed frustration over the project’s exposure. “The military is building a significant complex beneath the ballroom, and its details came to light because of an unfortunate lawsuit,” he remarked.
Trump elaborated on the construction progress, stating, “The military is developing an extensive facility underneath the ballroom, and everything is advancing smoothly. We have incorporated bullet-proof glass and drone-resistant roofs and ceilings.”
He added, “In today’s world, such measures are sadly necessary.”
While renovations on the White House’s nuclear bunker, officially known as the Presidential Emergency Operations Center, have been somewhat known, many specifics of the project have remained undisclosed until now.
The nuclear bunker had been placed under the East Wing, which Trump demolished last year to make way for his vaunted $400 million ballroom. The bunker has been modernized numerous times in the decades since.
Last year, the Secret Service had warned in court documents that efforts to halt construction of the White House ballroom would pose national security concerns, something that was widely interpreted as referencing construction on the nuclear bunker.
Trump has long described his ballroom as “impenetrable,” designed to be drone-proof and built with bulletproof glass.
On Sunday, during his trip from Florida back to DC, Trump also unveiled the most recent designs for his ballroom project, seemingly provoked by a scathing New York Times deep dive into the schematics, panning it for being overly large, featuring stairs to “nowhere,” and having columns that obstruct the view.
The president showcased new renditions of the ballroom project that he claimed were just created earlier that day to show how much of the design has changed.
“I think it will be the finest ballroom of its kind anywhere in the world,” Trump contended. “A lot of people are giving it really good reviews. Some are giving good reviews without even seeing the building, because this just came out today.”
“It’s become really beautiful, but it matches and fits the White House. It’s also capable of handling the inauguration,” he added.
Trump also swiped at the New York Times for being out of date in its analysis of his vaunted ballroom project.
“I think The Times wrote, gee, some of the windows are fake. We have no fake windows. They said they talked about a stairway in the South. We don’t have a stairway in the South. That was replaced a long time ago,” he jabbed.
