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Culture War Roundup for the week of April 27, 2026

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Their argument seems like a uphill battle here.

  1. No one even got hurt at the Hilton event except for what seems to be a friendly fire incident. Unless they're arguing that the president can't be in public locations, the necessity of the ballroom for safety reasons doesn't really work.

  2. The WHCA is a private organization, and there is no reason to assume they would break long running tradition hosting at the Hilton to do it at the ballroom. It's not like the president is required to attend either, Trump himself has skipped almost all of them. What guarantee would they even have there then that the space wouldn't be reneged if they upset the president or have participants barred from access due to critical coverage? It turns a private event that invites the government to an event controlled indirectly by the government.

  3. Even if true, the ballroom would not be completed by the time he leaves office anyway. Any argument for Trump specifically does not work because he will not be in office to benefit from it. He and his admin are not harmed then by waiting.

I'm pretty sure even the lawyers there understand this argument is incredibly stupid given how they didn't take the filing seriously. It seems like it was made hoping they would catch attention online than to actually succeed.

  1. The president frequently attends events.

  2. It would be easier from a security perspective to host these events at a WH ballroom as opposed to random hotels in DC where security is more lax.

  3. It doesn’t matter if Trump personally benefits but the presidency writ large.

the ballroom would not be completed by the time he leaves office anyway.

From your lips to God's ears.