Twelve hours after a gunman tried to attack Saturday’s White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, President Donald Trump used the incident as justification to build his $400 million, 90,000 square-foot ballroom.

“What happened last night is exactly the reason that our great Military, Secret Service, Law Enforcement and, for different reasons, every President for the last 150 years, have been DEMANDING that a large, safe, and secure Ballroom be built ON THE GROUNDS OF THE WHITE HOUSE,” Trump wrote on Sunday. NBC News characterized the claim as “without evidence.”

“This event would never have happened with the Militarily Top Secret Ballroom currently under construction at the White House. It cannot be built fast enough!” Trump added.

According to Bloomberg News, even at 90,000 square feet, the proposed ballroom would not be large enough to seat the dinner’s two thousand guests. Nor is the dinner a White House function — it is a private event.

Trump has been “frustrated” by legal challenges to his ballroom project, Bloomberg added.

From the start, the president maintained the ballroom would not cost taxpayers a dime, but rather, be privately funded by “many generous Patriots, Great American Companies, and, yours truly,” as the Associated Press reported last year.

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Now, according to Bloomberg, Trump allies are pushing for federal taxpayer funds to be used to pay for the ballroom.

“Key Republican senators are pushing to use federal funds for the construction of the White House ballroom President Donald Trump has planned, citing increased threats following Saturday’s shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner,” Bloomberg notes.

The lawmakers calling to use taxpayer funds for Trump’s ballroom include U.S. Senators Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Katie Britt (R-AL), and Eric Schmitt (R-MO). They “plan to try to attach funding for the ballroom to a federal spending bill.”

“I will be introducing standalone legislation tomorrow to authorize and appropriate money to fully fund the White House presidential ballroom,” Graham wrote on Sunday, “which over time will provide adequate security for this president and future presidents for events like the White House Correspondents Dinner.”

Punchbowl News’ Laura Weiss reports Senators Graham and Britt are holding a press conference Monday night for their bill to fund the ballroom.

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Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis released a new map in the national redistricting battle that he wants his state’s legislature to quickly approve despite several important issues with it, according to critics.

First, it may be unconstitutional. Florida’s constitution bans maps designed to favor a political party. Critics say the map is designed to reduce the number of congressional seats held by Democrats by four — including possibly wiping out two prominent Democratic members of Congress, Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Jared Moskowitz, according to the Cook Political Report’s Dave Wasserman.

Politico is calling it a “GOP-friendly” map, and Axios calls it “gerrymandered.”

“Trump and other GOP leaders have been explicit about why they want new lines — to help Republicans hold on to a House that they control 217-212,” The Washington Post reports. “Republicans in Florida can’t use that rationale because of a 2010 amendment to the state constitution that bars drawing districts to favor one party.”

And yet, some Republicans appear to have done just that.

“Legal challenges are sure to hinge on that part of the state constitution as Democrats look for evidence that Republicans are motivated by a desire to improve their electoral fortunes,” the Post added. “Florida Republicans have been mostly tight-lipped but at times have signaled that their efforts are inspired by partisanship. ‘Because of what now has been done in Virginia, now Florida needs to respond,’ said Rep. Byron Donalds, who is running to succeed DeSantis.”

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VoteHub’s head of data science, Zachary Donnini, called the map “highly aggressive and pretty risky for 2026.”

The Atlantic’s James Surowiecki called it “a gerrymander done with the intent of helping Republicans and hurting Democrats, which is explicitly prohibited by Florida’s constitution. The only way this map could stand (assuming it’s passed into law) is if FL’s Supreme Court willfully ignores the state constitution.”

“The fact that the Governor shared his illegally-rigged Congressional map with @FoxNews before sharing it with state senators voting on them TOMORROW shows how partisan and illegitimate this process is,” declared Florida Democratic state Senator Carlos Guillermo Smith.

“Changing the lines creates risks for Republicans because they could make some GOP incumbents more vulnerable as they try to take over more districts held by Democrats,” the Washington Post also reported, noting that Republicans are not enthusiastic about passing the map.

“24 hours before start time,” reported Axios’ Marc Caputo, “legislators [haven’t] even seen the maps, drafted secretly by Team DeSantis, they plan to rubber stamp.” Noting that a redistricting special session will be “convened by gubernatorial fiat —not the courts,” he calls the entire event “unprecedented.”

Critics weighed in on the DeSantis effort.

“DeSantis map looks like they just laughed at the concerns from Republicans in the Florida delegation,” wrote Aaron Fritschner, deputy chief of staff for U.S. Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA). “Just at a glance without even getting the shapefile or the breakdowns I see risk for them in some of these districts.”

“Certifiably insane to eliminate Democrat representation out of purple-as-a-plum Tampa Bay,” declared Florida Politics’ publisher Peter Schorsch, who notes he is a registered Republican. “This will backfire.”

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First Lady Melania Trump is calling for ABC to hold Jimmy Kimmel accountable days after the late night host offered up some jokes about her and President Donald Trump in a mock version of a White House Correspondents’ Dinner roast.

“Kimmel’s hateful and violent rhetoric is intended to divide our country,” the First Lady said on social media Monday. “His monologue about my family isn’t comedy- his words are corrosive and deepens the political sickness within America.”

“People like Kimmel shouldn’t have the opportunity to enter our homes each evening to spread hate,” she continued. “A coward, Kimmel hides behind ABC because he knows the network will keep running cover to protect him. Enough is enough. It is time for ABC to take a stand. How many times will ABC’s leadership enable Kimmel’s atrocious behavior at the expense of our community.”

The First Lady did not reference that Kimmel’s jokes were meant in the spirit of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, which historically has had a comedian who lampoons the President of the United States host the festivities. That tradition also includes presidents delivering self-deprecating remarks. Until Saturday, as president, Donald Trump has boycotted every WHCD.

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According to Fox News, Kimmel on Thursday night had said, “Our First Lady, Melania, is here. Look at Melania, so beautiful. Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow.”

During Saturday’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner, a heavily-armed gunman trying to rush the event “sprinted through a security checkpoint,” The New York Times reported, but was apprehended by Secret Service before he was able to enter the event space.

The Times also published some of the jokes Kimmel delivered Thursday night in a parody that he had called an “all-American” version of the D.C. dinner:

“By the way, in the unfortunate event that our president has a medical emergency tonight, do we have a doctor in the house — oh, I’m sorry. I mean, do we have a Jesus in the house? I always confuse them, too.”

“I get why you think you’re Jesus. This guy, every time he walks into a room, people say, ‘Christ, he’s back.’”

Both jokes appeared to reference posts the president had made seemingly depicting himself as Jesus.

Other jokes by Kimmel the Times published included:

“Oh, by the way, before we go any further: Melania, this is Donald. Donald, this is Melania. That was my impression of Jeffrey Epstein.”

“As the president will tell you repeatedly until you beg him to stop, President Trump has accomplished so much during his second term. He passed new incentives for oil and gas. He put the brakes on solar and wind. That will be your legacy, sir, breaking wind and passing gas.”

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