DOJ cites Washington dinner shooting in lawsuit over White House ballroom

The US Department of Justice has asked a judge to lift a pause on work to Donald Trump's new White House ballroom, citing the shooting at the White House Correspondent's Dinner this weekend.

A federal judge had issued a halt on ground construction after preservationists filed a lawsuit to stop the $400m (£296m) project from going forward.

Trump has long argued that the ballroom would be a safer venue for presidential events - calls that were amplified following Saturday's shooting at the crowded Washington Hilton.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation said on Monday it has no intention of dropping its lawsuit.

The trust's lawsuit argued that President Trump did not have the property authority to begin the project - on the former site of the White House's East Wing - without approvals by Congress and federal agencies.

Initially, Trump had said the project would be "near" the existing structure of the East Wing, which was constructed in 1902, but would not change it. Those plans changed and in October, the East Wing was demolished to make way for the new structure.

In a court filing made on Monday night as part of the lawsuit, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and other officials argued that the additional safety measures planned in the new ballroom warrants lifting a pause ordered by a federal judge earlier this month.

"Presidents need a secure space for large events that currently do not exist in Washington," the court filing reads.

"This court's injunction stalling this project cannot defensibly continue, for the sake of President Trump, future presidents and their families, Cabinets and staff."

The court filing also at times appeared to mimic the language used by Trump on social media.

It accuses the preservationist group of being plagued by "Trump Derangement Syndrome", a term frequently used by the president and his allies to describe those who oppose or criticise him.

"Because it is DONALD J. TRUMP, a highly successful real estate developer, who has abilities that others don't, especially those who assume the Office of President, this frivolous and meritless lawsuit was filed," the filing added.

Legal observers have said that the motion is unlikely to sway the judge in the case, Bush-appointee Richard Leon, who ordered that above ground construction be halted.

In a statement, the trust's president and CEO, Carol Quillen, said that the group is "not planning to voluntarily dismiss our lawsuit, which endangers no one and which respectfully asks the Administration to follow the law".

More than 2,300 people, including Cabinet members, members of Congress and other government officials, were present at the Washington Hilton on Saturday when an armed suspect attempted to enter the correspondent's dinner, an annual event celebrating journalists in Washington.

President Trump and other officials were quickly evacuated from the hotel's ballroom after shots were heard, while other attendees were left scrambling to hide under tables or behind chairs.

Since the incident, Trump has repeatedly used the shooting to justify the need for a new venue at the White House.

"I'm building a safe ballroom, and one of the reasons I'm building it is exactly what happened last night," he told CBS, the BBC's US news partner, the day after the incident.

"And that ballroom is being built on the safest piece of property in this country, probably one of the safest pieces of land in the world," he added.

It is unclear how a White House ballroom would have altered the course of events at the correspondent's dinner, a private event hosted by an outside organisation in which the president and other officials were guests.