Trump gets rare bipartisan green light for one White House project
WASHINGTON, DC: President Donald Trump’s White House visitor screening facility won unanimous approval, including votes from appointees of Democratic Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser.
The facility will replace temporary trailers and tents now used to screen White House visitors, which the Secret Service has said falls short of its security needs.
The National Capital Planning Commission approved the plans at a Thursday hearing, with construction expected to begin within a month and finish in 2028, NBC News reported on Friday, October 2.
Bipartisan panel backs 700-person underground screening facility
The commission’s approval stands apart from the legal and political disputes surrounding other Trump construction projects on the White House grounds, as per the outlet.
All 12 members approved the visitor facility, including representatives appointed by Bowser.
The facility will be built beneath Sherman Park, off 15th Street.
Visitors will enter below ground for screening and leave near the East Wing, where Trump’s 90,000-square-foot ballroom is being constructed.
Commission Chairman Mark Paoletta, a Trump appointee, praised the project after the vote, saying, “I look forward to the beautiful building being built on the White House grounds.”
Lee Webb, an urban planner on the commission, said the facility will have an indoor open-floor-plan space where the Secret Service can install permanent screening technology.
It will also provide indoor queuing for large events, with occupancy of up to 700 people.
The project connects to Trump's ballroom
The screening facility is part of a broader overhaul of the White House grounds that includes the ballroom, which has drawn legal pushback and was approved by the commission in April.
One presenter at Thursday’s hearing said the new facility’s exit will feature Corinthian columns to “align with the ballroom’s language.”
The ballroom is being built at the former East Wing site.
General Services Administration representative Paul Ingrassia called the visitor facility “an incredible part of this White House reimagining we’ve been seeing,” as per the outlet.
Trump has also been highly involved in other White House renovations, including gold adornments in the Oval Office and a helipad on the White House lawn, according to the outlet.
President Trump has linked other projects to security
The visitor screening facility has not drawn the same level of pushback as Trump's other construction plans.
His proposed Washington, DC-area “Triumphal Arch” became a separate example of a project he framed around national security.
In a September 20 Truth Social post, Trump said he would convert the arch plans into “a top grade Military Complex/Triumphal Arch” at the military’s request, citing “national security.”
He said the revised plan would “house, store, and have the rapid ability to use large numbers of drones, plus Snipers, on both the roof and plaza areas.”
The ballroom project has also been framed by Trump as necessary for national security and tied to an underground military complex.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation sued over the ballroom, arguing Trump lacked unilateral authority to undertake it. The Supreme Court ruled at the end of August that the administration could proceed indefinitely.
