Trump says ‘military wanted’ White House ballroom: ‘That was supposed to be secret’

President Trump says there’s a national security component to the construction of the White House ballroom that was “supposed to be secret.”

“Now it’s no secret, the military wanted it more than anybody,” Trump said of the construction of the ballroom Thursday during a Cabinet meeting at the White House.

“It was supposed to be secret, but it became unsecret because of people that are really unpatriotic saying things,” he said.

“But doesn’t matter, it’s going to be great,” the president added.

Trump ordered the East Wing of the White House to be demolished last year in order to construct a $400 million ballroom.

The president has frequently expressed the need for the 90,000-square-foot project, saying it’ll be utilized as a space for hosting state dinners, galas and other events with world leaders. The White House has said the ballroom is being funded by private donations. 

During the remodeling and expansion of the East Wing in the 1940s and following the attack on Pearl Harbor, then-President Franklin D. Roosevelt directed a bomb shelter be constructed underneath the building, according to the White House Historical Association. 

In January, CNN reported that the White House ballroom may include a “top-secret project” and that Trump was “rebuilding a secret bunker under the East Wing.”

The ballroom, which is expected to be completed by 2028, has triggered intense backlash from critics and faced significant legal challenges.

In December, the National Trust for Historic Preservation sued the Trump administration to stop construction of the ballroom until the White House obtained congressional approval and elicited a public comment period and multiple independent reviews.

“Everything I do, I get sued,” Trump said Thursday, pointing to the ballroom, as well as lawsuits involving the planned two-year closure of the Kennedy Center announced by Trump last month.

“I get sued over a ballroom that’s going to be the most beautiful ballroom in the country — so desperately needed,” Trump said.

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