New details have emerged about a “top secret” construction project taking place underneath the White House.
A new CNN report includes what little is known about the construction efforts, focused on a defensive bunker underneath what was formerly the East Wing of the White House.
The East Wing, which was controversially demolished by President Donald Trump in October in order to build his own $400 million ballroom, sat atop a secure underground facility built by President Franklin D. Roosevelt during World War II.
In addition to above-ground demolitions, the underground facilities are also understood to have been dismantled.
Few details are known about the construction project, but a source with knowledge of the matter told CNN that the space will likely be replaced with “new technology to counter evolving threats.”
Evidence given by a senior White House official suggests the Trump administration is using the “top-secret” nature of the work to deflect questions about the legality of its decision to demolish the iconic old East Wing structure without approval.
At a recent meeting of the National Capital Planning Commission—the commission that would typically be required to approve changes made to the White House—White House director of management and administration Joshua Fisher said that the ballroom project will “(enhance) mission critical functionality,” “make necessary security enhancements” and “(deliver) resilient, adaptive infrastructure aligned with future mission needs.”
When asked why the Trump administration demolished the East Wing without seeking the commission’s approval, Fisher cited the sensitive nature of the project.
“There are some things regarding this project that are, frankly, of top-secret nature that we are currently working on. That does not preclude us from changing the above-grade [above-ground] structure, but that work needed to be considered when doing this project, which was not part of the NCPC process,” Fisher said, according to CNN.
In addition, the White House argued in a court filing made last week in response to a lawsuit seeking to stop the construction of Trump’s ballroom that doing so would “endanger national security and therefore impair the public interest.”
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.
The facility beneath the former East Wing previously housed the Presidential Emergency Operations Center, which was utilized during the Sept. 11 attacks and later by Trump in May 2020 during the George Floyd protests.
In response to reports about his use of the bunker, Trump demanded that officials find and prosecute those responsible for leaking information to the press.
In his book on the 2020 election, Wall Street Journal reporter Michael Bender wrote, “Trump boiled over about the bunker story as soon as they arrived and shouted at them to smoke out whoever had leaked it. It was the most upset some aides had ever seen the president.”
“Whoever did that, they should be charged with treason!” Trump yelled. “They should be executed!”
Above ground, Trump has envisioned a new two-story building that will host his extravagant ballroom, complete with monumental stairs, guest suites, and a passageway connecting it to the main residence.
One of the few pieces of the 123-year-old East Wing to be salvaged—a bust of President Abraham Lincoln—was relocated to the West Wing colonnade.
“I got this from the East Wing,” Trump told his 18-year-old granddaughter Kai in a vlog titled ‘Christmas at the White House.’ “This came out of the East Wing, the famous East Wing. This looks good, doesn’t it, here? The same man that did the Mount Rushmore.”
