Will the WHCA dinner shooting get the ballroom built?

First Up

On the Kalshi prediction market, the odds are soaring that a White House ballroom will be built by the end of Donald Trump’s term. And it all started Saturday night: Within hours of the attempted shooting at the Hilton, Trump was pitching his dream project as a national-security essential. It’s now a refrain among his supporters: A gala event at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. would never have been threatened.

In a sense, security is the path to D.C.’s heart. Preservationists and bureaucrats guard against anyone who wants to mess with Pierre L’Enfant’s hallowed city plan. But the system is pretty deferential once the government starts making claims about safety. As just one example, take the block where Trump’s ballroom would be located. For almost 200 years, it was a major crosstown thoroughfare. In the 1990s, though, having cars and buses and parking on Pennsylvania Ave. somehow got deemed too risky. A city where people get up in arms about minor commuter inconveniences would just have to deal with it.

Will that now happen with the ballroom? The preservation group suing to stop what it sees as a gaudy eyesore says no: It just rejected Trump’s demand that it immediately drop its suit in the name of safety. On the other hand, for better or worse, people betting on the ballroom have a lot of D.C. history on their side.

What D.C.'s Talking About

WHCA Shooter Latest. Cole Thomas Allen, 31, was arraigned on three counts in federal court for the attempted shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner. Prosecutors say he had a pump-action shotgun, an automatic pistol, and three knives on him. Emma reports that U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said she’d be bringing more charges; expect him back in court Thursday. Meantime, reporters continued to focus on the security plans for the evening. The Washington Hilton said all Secret Service protocols had been followed.

Data to Watch. We’re looking at D.C.’s economic stats all wrong, writes Matthew Yglesias on Substack. For all the heartache about fired public service professionals, the DOGE impact is worst in poor parts of town. And the entire region is in danger of shrinking.

Local Elections, Post-Post. The Washington Post’s editorials used to have colossal impact in local DMV elections. But Semafor’s David Weigel, a one-time Postie himself, says this year has been different: The editorial board, as reinvented to reflect Jeff Bezos’ politics, absolutely railed against the Virginia redistricting referendum. It nonetheless won big in the NoVa ‘burbs. Likely upshot: The Post’s recommendations will be a non-factor in the D.C. mayoral race, too. That’s bad news for Kenyan McDuffie, whose socialist rival Janeese Lewis George has been pummeled in Post editorials.

Pedestrians in peril. You’re more likely to be hit by a car near a school in D.C. than anywhere else, according to a new Post report. The rates are even worse in poor neighborhoods. The statistics show the opposite in the suburbs, where walkers near schools are safer than those elsewhere. In a year when pedestrian safety issues have been a flashpoint between the city and national Republicans, look for this data to be cited next time Congress debates GOP proposals to ban D.C. speed cameras and no-turn-on-red signs.

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