“It’s time to build the ballroom,” acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said plainly Sunday on X, posting a letter in which Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate gave the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which has sued to block construction, until 9 a.m. Monday to dismiss its lawsuit.

If it doesn’t do so, Shumate wrote, the government would ask a court to do so “in light of last night’s extraordinary events,” calling the Washington Hilton — the site of Saturday’s gala — “demonstrably unsafe” for events with the president “because its size presents extraordinary security challenges for the Secret Service.”

The White House ballroom, Shumate wrote, “will ensure the safety and security of the President for decades to come and prevent future assassination attempts on the President at the Washington Hilton.”

Asked about the letter, Elliot Carter, spokesperson for the National Trust for Historic Preservation, said Sunday the group would review it with legal counsel.

The preservation group sued in December, a week after the White House finished demolishing the East Wing to make way for a ballroom that Trump said would fit 999 people. Trump says the project is funded by private donations, although public money is paying for the bunker construction and security upgrades.

A crowd of 2,300 attended Saturday night’s event at the Hilton, home to one of the few rooms in Washington large enough for the event. It packs in attendees at round tables whose chairs are back to back, and room to move around is tight. The dinner is not a White House event — it is run by the White House Correspondents’ Association, a nonprofit organization of journalists from media outlets that cover the president.

Republicans amp up their push for White House ballroom

For months, Trump has mentioned the ballroom project at nearly every chance, often talking about the lawsuit or his desire to construct the space during events on a number of other topics. As he addressed tuxedo- and ball gown-clad reporters who scurried from the Washington Hilton to the White House for a Saturday night news conference, Trump called for tougher security measures and pointed to the incident as a reason his ballroom is needed.

In the wake of the shooting, Trump, Blanche and a number of supporters of the administration have taken the opportunity to push for the project across social media platforms and news programs. Republican Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan said he agreed with Trump “100%” on the massive White House construction project, which Jordan said on Fox News Channel “obviously would be much safer location for these type of events.”

Sunday morning on X, Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said he agreed with Trump that the White House ballroom “is a national security necessity” that would give the Secret Service “immense control over the security environment of future events with a very hardened facility.”

Even some Democrats agreed. Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman, who attended Saturday’s dinner, said on X that the proposed White House space should be used “for events exactly like these.” On CNN later Sunday, Fetterman said attendees and Americans overall were in a “vulnerable” position during Saturday’s event, in part because many in the presidential line of succession were present and could have been harmed

Fetterman responded, “I certainly hope so” when asked if the incident would spark more support for the White House project.

Gate crashers, party crashers, a plane — security breaches at the White House

In the century-plus since its grounds were largely closed to the public, dozens of events are evidence that even the White House complex is not impervious to intrusion.

There have been a number of documented incidents in which people have scaled security barriers around the White House. One of them, a disturbed Army veteran carrying a knife, jumped the fence in 2014 and raced into the White House, making his way into the East Room before heading back down a hallway on the State Floor deep within the mansion.

A Homeland Security Department review of the case determined that lack of training, poor staffing decisions and communication problems contributed to the embarrassing failure that ultimately led to the resignation of the head of the Secret Service.

In 1994, a pilot died when he crashed a small stolen plane on the South Lawn, hitting a tree and a first-floor corner of the building. And in 2009, uninvited guests Tareq and Michaele Salahi crashed a state dinner, passing through security checkpoints and meeting President Barack Obama in an incident that sparked security investigations.

How is the White House ballroom project going?

In litigation since December, work is ongoing, although there have been recent hiccups.

Trump tore down the East Wing last fall to build the massive ballroom in that space. In its lawsuit, the National Trust for Historic Preservationargued that Trump had overstepped his authority by moving forward with the project without first getting approval from key federal agencies and Congress.

Earlier this month, a federal appeals court allowed Trump to continue construction of the $400 million project, ruling a day after a lower court judge continued to block above-ground construction on the site and scheduling a June 5 hearing to review the case. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon’s ruling had blocked above-ground construction of the 90,000-square-foot (8,400-square-meter) ballroom addition, while allowing only below-ground work to continue on a bunker and other “national security facilities” at the site.

On Fox News Channel on Sunday, Trump forecast that, by the end of his current term, his project would be complete.

“In the year ’28 you’re going to have something, you’re going to have a ballroom, the top of the line, security,” Trump said. “You’re not going to have problems.”

At least eight students and one teacher have been killed and several others injured following a shooting at a school in southern Turkey, Interior Minister Mustafa Cifci has said.

The incident happened at Ayser Calik Secondary School in the Kahramanmaras area.

The attacker was also killed during the incident, local governor Mukerren Unluer said.

It comes a day after 16 people were injured after an ex-student opened fire at another high school, also in the south of the country, before killing himself.

Ciftci said 13 people were wounded, with six in critical condition.

The motive of Wednesday’s attack is not yet known and an investigation has been launched.

Turkish media reported that the attacker, believed to be a teenager, entered two classrooms and had five guns and seven magazines with him, which Unluer alleged belonged to his ex-police officer father.

The attacker’s father has since been detained by police, according to local media.

In video verified by the BBC people could be seen appearing to jump from the first floor windows of the school and run from the premises.

‘‘The sound of gunfire was very intense,’‘ a reporter for Turkish broadcaster NTV said, adding that there was ‘‘panic in front of the school’‘.

After news of the shooting broke, tearful parents gathered outside of the building.

Source: BBC

–Agencies

A person has reportedly been shot and injured near a supermarket at Dondra, within the Gandara police division, a short while ago.

The injured shooting victim, said to be a fishmonger in the area, has been admitted to the Matara Hospital.

Reports indicate that the perpetrators, who arrived in a grey car, opened fire before fleeing the scene. The victim has been identified as a fish trader in the area known by the alias ‘Delight’.

Further investigations are currently underway to apprehend the suspects and determine the exact motive behind the attack.

Another shooting incident has been reported in the Jinthupitiya area of Colombo.

Police reported that an unidentified gunman opened fire on several individuals inside a barbershop (salon).

According to police, one person has died and four others sustained injuries in the incident.

The injured individuals have been admitted to Colombo National Hospital for treatment.

Specific details regarding the identities of the victims have not yet been disclosed.

Initial investigations indicate that a T-56 assault rifle was used in the shooting, said police.

Foreshore Police are continuing further investigations into the incident.

Ten police teams, including personnel from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and the Special Task Force (STF), have been deployed to investigate the killing of a lawyer and his wife in Akuregoda this evening (13), Sri Lanka Police stated.

 

A 28-year-old man has died after being shot during a private party held in the Tsunamiwatta in Ambalangoda, police stated.

The victim sustained gunshot injuries after being shot by two unidentified individuals while attending the gathering. He was admitted to the Balapitiya Hospital for treatment, where he succumbed to his injuries.

The deceased was a resident of Galaboda.

The motive for the shooting has not yet been identified, and police suspect that a pistol-type firearm was used in the attack.

The Ambalangoda Police are conducting further investigations to apprehend the suspects.

The billionaire investor said that current national crises—from federal agents killing people in Minneapolis to the skyrocketing national debt—signal a transition to a more violent phase of the American “Big Cycle.”

“The United States is now a tinderbox,” he warned in a lengthy essay on X on Monday, titled “Money, Civil & International War, Minneapolis, and Beyond—in Perspective.” 

The post draws heavily on his 2021 book Principles for Dealing With the Changing World Order, in which he analyzes 500 years of history to explain why some countries succeed and others fail, describing a six-stage, 80-year cycle that tracks the evolution of a society’s monetary, domestic, and international order. 

In his X post, Dalio said it is in the hands of President Donald Trump to pull away from, or step closer to, civil conflict. 

“Many people are waiting to see whether President Trump will continue to fight, which I believe would risk pushing us over the brink into a more clear civil war, or if he will make an attempt to pull us back from the brink by appealing for peace, promising and showing that the justice system will handle the shootings appropriately, and curtail ICE activities,” he wrote.

Dalio has for years used his Big Cycle framework to caution that the U.S. is deep into what he calls Stage 5—the “pre-breakdown phase” characterized by bad financial conditions and internal conflict—and risks teetering into Stage 6, what he calls the “final and most painful stage,” marked by the breakdown of the existing order via civil war or revolution. 

In the past, he has sounded the alarm about widening economic inequality and political polarization. And last week, he said in a conversation with Fortune at Davos that we are now dealing with the “breakdown of the monetary order” as the national debt now stands at $38 trillion, which he has called a common symptom of failing empires. 

On the brink in Minneapolis

In his latest post, Dalio argued that the killings in Minneapolis and the surging national debt together suggest the U.S. may be moving from Stage 5 into Stage 6. He cited excerpts from his 2021 book, in which he stated that “people dying in the fighting” is a sign that “almost certainly signifies the progression to the next and more violent civil war stage,” and that intensifying disputes between the federal government and the states is a classic historical marker for civil conflict. He also included an excerpt, stating the “single most reliable leading indicator of civil war or revolution is bankrupt government finances combined with big wealth gaps.” 

Dalio has been edging toward this conclusion for several years. In 2024, he warned that the U.S. risked large-scale civil conflict if one side didn’t accept the results of the presidential election. And in an essay that same year in Time, he said the “risk of some form of civil war is uncomfortably more than 50%.”

Whatever direction Trump takes in the wake of the killings in Minneapolis, Dalio said that the U.S. is already in a heightened state of tension. 

“While his choice will have huge implications for what comes next, including possibly lighting the tinderbox, in any case, it is important to see everything that is happening in the context of all the forces and events that are driving the Big Cycle,” he added.

Five suspects, including a woman, have been arrested in connection with the shooting incident in Jinthupitiya, which resulted in the death of one person and caused injuries to two small children on 16 January, 2026.

The group was arrested during a special raid conducted by officers of the Coastal Police Station in Jinthupitiya and Kotahena areas yesterday (19) and the day before (18).   

Accordingly, a suspect was arrested with 04 grams and 800 milligrams of heroin for aiding and abetting the shooting incident, while three other male suspects and a female suspect have also been arrested, the police said.

The female suspect has been identified as a 49-years-old and the arrested male suspects are aged 18, 33, 40 and 43 and are residents of Colombo 13.

The suspects were produced before Magistrate’s Court No. 01 at the Aluthkade Courts on 19 January. A detention order has been issued for one suspect until 23 January 2026, while the others have been remanded until 26 January 2026, police said. 

The Coastal Police and the Colombo North Divisional Criminal Investigation Bureau are conducting further investigations into the incident.