Following Donald Trump's renewed calls for his $400 million White House ballroom to be built, Seth Meyers torched the president's claims that the project was somehow 'top secret' during his 'Late Night' show.
Trump's Top Secret Claim
Trump wrote on Truth Social after the shooting at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner on Saturday: 'This event would never have happened with the Militarily Top Secret Ballroom currently under construction at the White House.'
Meyers responded: 'What do you mean it's top secret? You talk about it all the time. That's the opposite of top secret. You've literally held up poster boards with designs for the ballroom you claim is top secret. This is militarily top secret in the same way a stealth bomber would be if it was pulling a banner that read “invisible plane.”'
Using the Shooting to Justify the Ballroom
Within 24 hours of the shooting, Trump began using the incident to justify why his ballroom should be built, saying that 'nothing should be allowed to interfere with its construction.' He wrote: 'What happened last night is exactly the reason that our great Military, Secret Service, Law Enforcement and, for different reasons, every President for the last 150 years, have been DEMANDING that a large, safe, and secure Ballroom be built ON THE GROUNDS OF THE WHITE HOUSE.'
Legal Challenges Continue
The ballroom has been tangled in a web of legal challenges, brought by those who claim Trump disregarded laws governing historic preservation, environmental regulation and congressional approval. The primary challenger, the nonprofit National Trust for Historic Preservation, said on Monday that it will not drop its lawsuit to halt construction.
Carol Quillen, the head of the trust, said in a statement: 'We are not planning to voluntarily dismiss our lawsuit, which endangers no one and which respectfully asks the Administration to follow the law.'
Watch Meyers' full 'A Closer Look' segment from Monday night's show for more details.
