The White House is in talks about erecting permanent fencing around the public square across from the mansion, amid heightened concerns about security following several assassination attempts against President Donald Trump.
Fencing would go around Lafayette Square and areas on Pennsylvania Avenue near the White House, but the decision is still awaiting Trump’s approval, according to CBS News. The development comes after the president said earlier this week he is “No. 1 on the kill list for Iran,” and a gunman opened fire near the White House in late May, rattling officials, alongside a shooter whom officials say sought to assassinate Trump at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in April.
A White House official told the Washington Examiner that there “are always discussions ongoing about how to make the White House Complex as safe as possible.”
“However, nothing is confirmed at this time. Any projects that are pursued will go through the necessary review process,” the official said.
The Washington Post previously reported that the White House is considering installing permanent fencing along the north and south sides of the park, making it easier to close the park to the public where Pennsylvania Avenue intersects 15th and 17th streets NW, should security concerns arise. The White House currently relies on temporary fencing that it erects for events or other situations that warrant heightened security. A permanent barrier would allow the Secret Service to prevent pedestrian access in front of the White House more easily.
Critics are already pushing back on the idea of permanent fencing, with Washington, D.C.’s delegate to Congress, Eleanor Holmes Norton, introducing a bill on Thursday to prohibit it at the park. She argued that fencing is an “incredibly imprecise” security tool likely to serve as “another form of security theater, where it makes a place look secure while masking the need for more effective and modern security measures.”
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Independence Day holiday visitors endure sweltering temperatures as they try to get a view of the White House beyond metal fencing surrounding Lafayette Park, in Washington, Friday, July 3, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE BOASTS ALL-TIME HIGH CASH TOTAL
“While I understand the importance of protecting the White House, which is already surrounded by a 13-foot-high fence, we can and must maintain our commitment to security without sacrificing public access by using the least restrictive means necessary to address security,” she said in a statement.
“Public property should be open to the public. We should not leave citizens peering at their democracy from behind permanent fences,” Norton added.
