The White House wants to build an underground center to provide security screening for visitors

Source: AP

Updated 7:58 PM EDT, March 13, 2026


WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House wants to build an underground center to provide security screening for visitors, the latest step in the Trump administration’s plan to overhaul the grounds. Plans, including renderings of the 33,000-square-foot (3,066-square-meter) center, were included in the preliminary agenda released on Friday for the April meeting of a federal commission that approves construction on federal land in Washington.

The screening facility would be built beneath Sherman Park, which is located southeast of the White House and directly south of the Treasury building.

The park had for a long time been the place where White House tourists and guests lined up for security checks before they cleared a series of trailer-type structures and walked to the East Wing entrance. President Donald Trump tore down the East Wing last fall to build a ballroom. Visitors currently line up near Lafayette Park, across Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House.

The new screening facility would have seven lanes to ease processing and reduce wait times. Construction could begin as early as August, according to the plans, as the White House said it wants the facility operating by July 2028, six months before Trump’s term ends.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/trump-visitors-white-house-center-underground-25ede1c5718ca27f58210651b6e67e34