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3h ago

White House Undertakes Classified Rebuild Beneath East Wing as Ballroom Project Advances

The White House argues that stopping the sensitive underground work would endanger national security.

Vice President Cheney talks on the phone in the Presidential Emergency Operations Center. According to the 9/11 Commission report, it was inside the shelter’s conference room that he authorized fighter aircraft to engage with United 93 if necessary. “The comms in this place are terrible,” Cheney complained, according to a memoir by counterterrorism official Richard Clarke.
Nixon during a press conference in the East Wing of the White House in January 1969. During his presidency, the bunker beneath was once used to watch a film depicting the president’s daughter’s wedding night to determine if there was cause for legal action, according to a memoir by his White House counsel John Dean.
President George W. Bush attends a National Security Council Meeting about the September 11 terrorist attacks in the Presidential Emergency Operations Center in 2001.
A view of the Door to the Presidential Emergency Operations Center.

Overview

  • At a National Capital Planning Commission meeting, a senior official described parts of the East Wing project as “top-secret” and tied to security enhancements below ground.
  • In a court filing, the administration said pausing the underground construction would harm national security and referenced a classified declaration supporting that claim.
  • Demolition that began in October tore out the East Colonnade and East Wing, and sources told CNN the 1940s-era PEOC and related subterranean systems appear to have been removed.
  • Sources and a former Secret Service agent say a modern replacement is being developed to counter nuclear, chemical or biological threats and electromagnetic pulses, with details kept highly classified.
  • President Trump says private donors will cover the $400 million ballroom, while costs for the underground security work remain undisclosed and are expected to fall to taxpayers, with reporting pointing to roles for the military, the Secret Service, and specialized contractors.