After the White House banquet shooting, Trump fixates on one thing: this proves the necessity of building the new garden
Indeed, Trump still can't stop thinking about his "big garden."
Following the White House banquet shooting, Trump held a press conference. However, he did not focus much on the incident itself but instead heavily emphasized how this shooting "demonstrates the urgent need to build a new White House banquet hall."
Trump claimed the shooting exposed the insecurity of Washington's Hilton Hotel, and that the new White House banquet hall would feature advanced security measures such as bulletproof glass and anti-drone roofing. He argued that if the event had taken place in the new hall, today's tragedy would never have occurred (Trump also plans to construct a secure bunker beneath the banquet hall).
However, progress on the construction of Trump's long-cherished White House banquet hall has been slow. The project has now entered a legal dispute phase—although the District of Columbia Court of Appeals allowed work to continue in mid-April, another hearing is scheduled for June. If the hearing fails to pass, the above-ground construction will be halted once again.
Moreover, although Trump claims the banquet hall is being funded privately, the overall renovation budget for the White House has drastically increased to $377 million in fiscal year 2026, with an additional $174 million planned for 2027, raising suspicions that federal funds are being used to build a personal garden.
White House Banquet Shooting Incident
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1863527379169284/
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