Existing White House Bunker May Undercut Trump’s Ballroom Lawsuit

The Trump administration’s repeated claims that the White House ballroom project is a must needed security upgrade is reportedly undercut by the existence of a secret bunker that was built in response to the 9/11 attacks.The Washington Post cites unnamed ex-government officials who say a highly protected bunker was started during President Bush’s term and completed during President Obama’s administration. The current facility has the ability to shelter the president and other top government officials for weeks and was built to withstand a nuclear blast, the former officials said.President Donald Trump has claimed that the White House needs a massive new ballroom because it would provide him and future presidents with a secure, hardened facility. But former officials say the argument fails to acknowledge that the presidential complex already has one.More than a decade ago, federal officials built a highly protected bunker, embedded deep underground, that can shelter the president and dozens of his top aides in a national security emergency, according to three former officials. The facility is buried more than 60 feet under the White House grounds and has its own self-contained airflow system.The bunker reportedly contains a month’s worth of food and would act as a secure command center to allow the president to continue to run the country.It was designed to replace the original White House bunker that was built during the administration of President Roosevelt. The Presidential Emergency Operations Center was used to protect Vice President Cheney and the first lady, Laura Bush, during the 2001 attack. That event led the White House to plan and build a more secure facility.The Supreme Court will decide on the fate of the new project. Chief Justice Roberts signed a temporary order on Friday that stays a lower court order that the 90,000-square-foot ballroom project should stop while a case brought by the National Trust for Historic Preservation is argued.In court filings for that case the administration has referred to the ballroom as an “integrated military complex” that is “vitally required by national security.” While many of the details about the existing subterrain complex have been kept secret, the Trump administration has detailed several elements of their project.The project includes bomb shelters, state-of-the-art hospital and medical facilities, protective partitioning between all areas of the building, top secret military structures and equipment, military-grade venting, a single integrated air conditioning and heating system, sniper nests, and a drone port on top.The administration says the structure under construction extends five stories deep into the ground, and is built with hardened concrete, steel, and rebar. It also says the facility will have protective missile-resistant columns, roofs, and beams. The finished building will also have drone-proof ceilings and roofs, along with bullet, ballistic, and blast-proof glass.“In short, the knitted, unified, cohesive Project will address glaring security problems with the old East Wing and the White House grounds, as well as update them to serve the modern-day needs and security of all future Presidents,” the president’s solicitor general, John Sauer, wrote in a filing.The National Trust for Historic Preservation sued the government saying the ballroom project needs to go through a legally mandated review process and have congressional approval. The Trump administration tore down the East Wing of the White House last fall and began construction of the ballroom project. Hundreds of construction workers have been working nearly around the clock to build the massive underground portion of the project.“The Project is critical for ensuring that the White House can serve as a secure location for the gathering of the President, gathering of senior government officials, and gatherings that further the interests of the United States,” the Director of National Intelligence, Jay Clayton, stated in the filing.There is no timeline for the full Supreme Court to decide on whether the project should be halted. Mr. Sauer, in his filing, told the justices that it is too late to stop work because it is already moving quickly toward completion.

Existing White House Bunker May Undercut Trump’s Ballroom Lawsuit

Existing White House Bunker May Undercut Trump’s Ballroom Lawsuit

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