The White House is upgrading its front door to fortify the entrance
By Betsy Klein, Kaitlan Collins, CNN
(CNN) — The White House is making security-focused upgrades to its front door, an official told CNN, in a project that’s expected to take months.
The changes, which sources said have long been advocated by the US Secret Service, are aimed at fortifying the White House entrance at the North Portico, which has recently been obscured by scaffolding and a tarp as workers repair the exterior columns at President Donald Trump’s request.
But unlike many of Trump’s projects around the White House — from hanging gold signage to paving the Rose Garden — the work on the front door is not cosmetic, and instead focused on enhancing its security, the White House official said.
The US Secret Service did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment.
There are other potential security upgrades in the works, as well. On Friday, the Trump administration submitted plans for new fencing that would enclose Lafayette Park, the area surrounding the north side of the White House.
It’s not unusual for the park to be intermittently closed to the public during presidential movements, and the project’s goal is to offer a more permanent solution to the existing patchwork of temporary barricades, what officials describe as “comprehensive yet flexible fencing strategy for varying security risk.” The permanent fencing is meant to make it easier to shut down the road when needed.
US Secret Service, the Executive Office of the President, and the Department of Interior submitted a lengthy proposal to the US Commission of Fine Arts on the fencing, offering an initial plan that will now need to be formally approved by multiple federal agencies. “Phased implementation” of the project could begin as soon as 2027, per the proposal.
The security enhancements come as Trump has been the target of multiple assassination attempts, including at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner at the Washington Hilton in April. And last month, there was an alleged plot to attack the UFC fight on the White House South Lawn. Officials have pointed to those incidents as justification for the president’s sprawling, 90,000-square-foot ballroom project, which they’ve said is expected to include a sophisticated drone port and sniper nests, along with a secure underground bunker.
The North Portico fortifications are expected to be complete by approximately mid-September, the White House official said.
On Friday morning, a third panel of tarp featuring an image of the White House exterior was unfurled around the North Portico scaffolding, where the work on the columns is ongoing.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum had predicted that the column project, which involves stone restoration work, would be done “quickly,” and it was unclear why the tarp had been installed.
“It’ll go very quickly. I think they’ve been up, maybe, just about 10 days now, but these guys work very quick,” Burgum said in a recent appearance on “The Katie Miller Podcast.”
This story has been updated with additional developments.
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