Trump Called His White House Military Complex 'Supposed to Be Secret' After His Own Lawyers Revealed It in Court
Donald Trump has confirmed that the military is constructing a major underground complex beneath his contested White House ballroom — including a hospital, bomb shelters, and top-secret military installations — details he said were never meant to be made public. The disclosure did not come from a whistleblower or a political opponent. It came from his own lawyers.During a Cabinet meeting, Trump said: 'Now it's no secret, the military wanted it more than anybody. It was supposed to be secret, but it became unsecret because of people that are really unpatriotic saying things.' What Trump did not address was that the people who put the project into the public record were the lawyers representing his own administration in federal court.Lawyers Filed What Trump Called a SecretThe disclosure emerged in a court filing by Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, Trump's former personal lawyer, who wrote: 'The Project, which includes a state-of-the-art hospital and medical facilities, Top Secret military installations, bomb shelters, structures, and equipment, protective partitioning, and other features — is fully designed to protect the President.'Trump told reporters on Air Force One that 'the military is building a massive complex under the ballroom, which has come out recently because of a stupid lawsuit that was filed.' He added that the ballroom would act as a protective layer, with 'high-grade bulletproof glass' shielding what lies below from drone attacks and other threats.
A Project That Keeps ExpandingThe ballroom project has shifted considerably since Trump first pitched it last year as a privately funded entertainment venue for hosting foreign dignitaries. According to The New York Times, the project involves replacing the existing Presidential Emergency Operations Centre with a larger, deeper facility designed to house advanced security infrastructure.Two days before a March ruling by US District Court Judge Richard J Leon, Trump told reporters that a 'massive military complex' underneath the ballroom was supposed to remain secret. The judge subsequently ordered a halt to above-ground construction unless Congress authorised the project, though that ruling has since been temporarily stayed while an appeals court reviews the matter. Oral arguments are scheduled for 5 June.The National Trust for Historic Preservation filed a lawsuit in December after the East Wing was demolished without obtaining final approval, arguing the White House had bypassed long-standing legal requirements. The administration, through Blanche, has pushed back, describing the Trust's opposition as driven by 'Trump Derangement Syndrome' and accusing it of downplaying a suspected shooting at the White House Correspondents' Dinner in April.
Funding Claims CollapseTrump's repeated insistence that the project would be entirely covered by private donors has not held up. His Senate allies are now seeking $1 billion (£788m) in federal funding for security work related to the ballroom, a move backed by the White House. The administration says hundreds of millions would cover bulletproof glass, drone detection systems, and chemical threat filtration, with a further $175 million (£129.46m) directed at improving security for Secret Service protectees.Trump announced on Friday that he expects the ballroom to be completed in September 2028, insisting it 'will be the finest facility of its kind anywhere in the U.S.A.'The ballroom project has become a major point of contention in Trump's second term, raising questions about congressional oversight, historic preservation law, and the cost to the public — questions that a court filing from the president's own legal team has now placed squarely before Congress and the courts.
