WASHINGTON — The National Trust for Historic Preservation declined to withdraw its lawsuit seeking to halt construction of President Donald Trump's White House ballroom after the Department of Justice asked it to drop the case following a shooting at the White House Correspondents' Dinner. Top Justice Department officials said the government would ask a court to dismiss the lawsuit "in light of last night's extraordinary events" if the trust did not voluntarily drop it.

The Justice Department's letter urged the trust to drop the lawsuit on the grounds that it endangers the lives of the president, his family, and his staff. The White House Correspondents' Association Dinner is hosted by members of the media, not by the government.

National Trust attorney Gregory Craig wrote to the Justice Department declining the request and stating that the legal issues at the heart of the lawsuit are unchanged. "What Saturday's awful event does not change is that the Constitution and multiple federal statutes require Congress to authorize construction of a ballroom on White House grounds, and that Congress has not done so," Craig said.

Carol Quillen, head of the trust, responded to the Justice Department's letter by expressing gratitude for the Secret Service and law enforcement's response to the shooting and noting that ballroom construction is allowed to continue until the June 5 hearing. "We are not planning to voluntarily dismiss our lawsuit, which endangers no one and which respectfully asks the Administration to follow the law," Quillen said.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt defended the project. "It is actually critical for our national security that a larger, secure building on this complex — which is the most secure complex in the world — is built to accommodate not only large amounts of guests, but also the president, the vice president, members of the Cabinet," Leavitt said. "And so it's critical that we get this project done as quickly as possible," she added.

The trust filed the lawsuit 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. The lawsuit argued that Trump overstepped his authority by moving forward with the project without first obtaining approval from key federal agencies and Congress. Trump said the ballroom project is funded by private donations, although public money is being used to pay for a below-ground bunker and security upgrades. A federal appeals court allowed construction to continue, issuing the ruling a day after a lower court judge continued to block above-ground construction and scheduling a hearing for June 5.