Fetterman Criticizes TDS Leadership While Supporting Trump’s Ballroom Decision

In an exclusive interview with the Daily Mail, Senator John Fetterman issued a striking critique of his own Democratic Party, urging members to abandon what he referred to as ‘TDS’ and support President Trump’s plan for a White House ballroom.

Fetterman’s comments emerged following a shooting incident at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday, an event he attended.

“The current leader of the Democratic Party is suffering from TDS,” remarked the Pennsylvania senator, as he spoke about the so-called ‘Trump Derangement Syndrome.’ He emphasized, “Our nation needs and deserves this ballroom.”

The term ‘Trump Derangement Syndrome’ has been popularized by Trump supporters to describe what they perceive as an overly intense and irrational opposition to the former president.

House Speaker Mike Johnson also weighed in, expressing agreement with Fetterman’s stance and calling for unity after the attack during a media appearance on Monday morning.

‘After witnessing last night, drop the TDS and build the White House ballroom for events exactly like these,’ Fetterman advocated.

The White House Correspondents’ Dinner is an annual Washington, DC event put on by the White House Correspondents’ Association, not by the White House itself.

The dinner has grown to over 2,600 attendees in the over 100 years since the first event in 1921. Moving the dinner to a venue other than the Hilton would have to be approved by the Association, and is not a decision made solely by the White House.

US Senator John Fetterman, a Pennsylvania Democrat, walks following a shooting incident during the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in Washington, DC, US, April 25, 2026

The demolition of the East Wing of the White House during construction of U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposed ballroom is seen from the reopened Washington Monument, following the longest shutdown of the government in Washington, DC, US, November 15, 2025

A projection of what the White House Ballroom could look like after completion

President Trump told NBC in a 2025 interview that the new ballroom currently under construction would have a capacity for approximately 900 guests. 

A document from the National Capital Planning Commission presented in March of this year notes that the approximately 22,000 square-foot ballroom ‘is designed to accommodate approximately a thousand seated guests at a formal dinner.’

Speaking with the Daily Mail on Monday, Fetterman added that ‘we just need to put our respective biases away, and for me this, this is before the country’s interest not even the party’s interest,’ he said of the ballroom.

‘Trump won’t even be President to use the facility,’ he noted, referencing current projected construction timelines, before adding that ‘it’s about the facility that will be used for countless presidents after that.’

President Donald Trump’s $400 million White House ballroom project was temporarily halted at the start of April by a federal judge.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation sued the Trump administration following the destruction last autumn of the White House’s East Wing, arguing that Trump required Congressional approval before making such sweeping changes to the building.

Fetterman also noted that he has voted multiple times to fund the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees the Secret Service. 

The House has passed a comprehensive DHS funding package, but the Senate has repeatedly failed to follow suit despite Republican efforts – the bill requires a 60-vote threshold to pass. Fetterman also joined New Mexico’s Martin Heinrich in crossing party lines to back the nomination of DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin, confirmed 54-45 in March.

On the wider security failings laid bare on Saturday night, Fetterman told the Daily Mail: ‘Imagine if it was Iran, imagine if this was some organization with some resources,’ rather than the seemingly lone gunman who struck that evening.

Shattered glass lies on a staircase near the ballroom at the Washington Hilton hotel, where a shooting incident occurred at the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, in Washington, DC, US, April 26, 2026

President Donald Trump takes questions from media at a press briefing at the White House, following a shooting incident during the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, in Washington, DC, US, April 25, 2026

Cole Tomas Allen, 31, a teacher from Torrance, California, was caught on camera attempting to bolt past a security checkpoint armed with a shotgun, a handgun and several knives. 

He exchanged fire with Secret Service agents before being tackled and arrested. One agent was struck in his bulletproof vest and is expected to recover. Nobody else was hurt.

The White House Correspondents’ Dinner – the annual black-tie gala uniting politicians and journalists – had barely begun when shots rang out and the Secret Service sprang into action. 

Trump later released surveillance footage showing Allen, dressed in black, sprinting through the hotel gun in hand before being rushed by armed guards.

Journalists inside the room photographed top administration officials being hurried to safety. 

Video showed Vice President JD Vance being frantically escorted off stage, while Trump and Melania ducked for cover before agents pulled the President away. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr and his wife Cheryl Hines were pictured running in a crouch, with Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller and his wife Katie Miller close behind. Speaker Johnson was also briskly escorted out.

Within an hour, Trump addressed reporters at a West Wing briefing. ‘It’s always shocking when something like this happens,’ he said. 

Cole Tomas Allen, 31, is thought to have been targeting members of the Trump administration when he charged into the ballroom at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday night. He is pictured after he was tackled to the ground and arrested

Harrowing surveillance footage captured the moment gun-wielding shooter Cole Tomas Allen stormed past security at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner

An agent is seen drawing his gun and shouting after gunshots were heard at the dinner 

‘I heard a noise and kinda thought it was a tray going down.’ He added that Melania had immediately recognised it as a ‘bad noise’ and that it had been ‘a rather traumatic experience for her.’ ‘Melania was very cognizant,’ he said – and shared her fear for his safety given the multiple assassination attempts he has survived.

Federal prosecutors charged Allen with three federal crimes on Monday, including the attempted assassination of the President. 

He faces up to 20 years on the assault charge; the firearm counts carry a mandatory minimum of ten years and could extend to life imprisonment, depending on whether the weapon was discharged and the severity of the underlying offence.