Donald Trump’s new ballroom at the White House will be built on top of a secure underground facility, it’s been revealed.
The current bomb shelter beneath the White House was first built in 1941, during World War Two, beneath the historic East Wing.
In October, Trump’s decision to demolish the historic East Wing of the White House angered many Americans, as he made way for new construction of his beloved ballroom.
Now, it’s been reported that the ‘dated’ underground shelter below where the East Wing was has been dismantled and is being upgraded – though the government hasn’t confirmed this.
During a recent meeting about what the ballroom project means, officials did signal that it would ‘make necessary security enhancements’ – likely referencing the old bunker.
White House director of management and administration Joshua Fisher said at the time: ‘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 structure, but that work needed to be considered when doing this project, which was not part of the NCPC process.’
CNN also reported that during a court matter last week, in which a motion was filed to stop the ballroom construction, the White House said stopping the building would ‘endanger national security and therefore impair the public interest.’
Among those funding the White House ballroom, a few security and intelligence firms are listed.
They include Microsoft, Lockheed Martin, and Palantir, which has worked with the Israeli Ministry of Defence to provide data and AI ‘war-related missions’ assistance.
The bunker, known as the Presidential Emergency Operations Centre, was most famously used on 9/11, where it sheltered then-Vice President Dick Cheney as a plane crashed into the Pentagon.
Not much is known about the bunker, but pictures from 2001 show a dark room, presumably built to withstand serious impact, lined with a wooden table and chairs.
It has also featured in films like White House Down and Olympus Has Fallen but it is not known how many times the facility has been used by real presidents.
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