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Federal panel reviews Trump plan to permanently fence Lafayette Square

Washington, District of ColumbiaPublished 5 Sep 2026

Security fencing around Lafayette Square near the White House
Security fencing around Lafayette Square near the White House

Max.vanbalgooy / Wikimedia Commons, CC0 · source

The National Capital Planning Commission heard Secret Service plans to fence the park north of the White House and a new visitor screening center.

On Sept. 3 the National Capital Planning Commission reviewed Trump administration plans to permanently fence Lafayette Square, a longtime Secret Service priority that past presidents resisted. The 79-page proposal would encircle the 8-acre park with gates at the north and south. Preservationists and a non-Trump commissioner raised public-access concerns. The panel approved the concept of an underground White House visitor screening center. Lafayette Square has been closed for months after renovation work.

Shared facts

The Secret Service has long sought a more fortified White House and Lafayette Square fence, a priority past administrations discussed but did not approve.

The National Capital Planning Commission took up the Lafayette Square fencing and visitor-screening proposals on Thursday.

The commission advanced a proposal to erect permanent fencing around Lafayette Square.

The fencing plans drew substantial critiques over public access.

The commission approved the concept of a White House visitor screening center.

The plan pits Secret Service security concerns against Lafayette Square's status as an open gathering spot in front of the White House.

Lafayette Square has long been a gathering place for tourists and protesters next to the White House.

Pam Fessler told the commission people came to Lafayette Square because it was the country's town square.

The commission this spring approved Trump's White House ballroom after the East Wing was razed without authorization.

The fencing proposal is set for a final vote in coming months.

The administration pitched the fence as an aesthetic replacement for temporary barriers erected since the 2020 protests.

ACLU attorney Laura Follansbee said the proposal claims a fence will preserve day-to-day openness.

Paoletta said people can come to the park.

Mark Paoletta is a Trump appointee and was named commission chairman on Aug. 26.

Thursday was Paoletta's first meeting as chairman.

White House Counsel Will Scharf previously held the chairman's role.

The visitor screening facility drew far less controversy than the fencing.

The planning commission and the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts have not been obstacles to Trump's capital plans.

The fine arts panel approved the visitors-center plans at its July meeting.

The fine arts panel heard a Lafayette Square fencing presentation but took no action.

The Secret Service won approval about a decade ago for a 13-foot security fence around the White House perimeter.

Officials cited assassination attempts on Trump, including two during the 2024 campaign and one in April, as a reason for more fencing.

In May, Secret Service officers fatally shot a man who opened fire near a White House security checkpoint.

Permanent Lafayette Square fencing would change the usual access and appearance of the grounds in front of the White House.

Lafayette Square last had permanent fencing in the late 1800s.

A 79-page proposal calls for fencing the park with larger gates at the north and south entrances.

Fence options would either include or exclude monuments at the park's four corners.

The White House visitor screening facility has been viewed as a noncontroversial security measure.

The administration wants the permanent screening facility open by July 2028.

The permanent facility would replace temporary tents and trailers used to screen White House visitors.

Officials say the permanent facility would strengthen campus security and improve the visitor experience.

The visitor screening center would be built underground at Sherman Park.

Consultations moved the screening center to the western edge of Sherman Park, away from utility infrastructure.

The Secret Service has also pushed for additional permanent fences on Pennsylvania Avenue and around the White House campus, with announcements said to be forthcoming.

Lafayette Square has been closed to the public for nearly eight months, though renovation work was completed weeks ago.

Trump's willingness to embrace the security changes follows attempts on his life.

Disputed facts

Sources disagree on whether a permanent fence would be used to shut Lafayette Square during protests.

Sources disagree on whether a Lafayette Square fence would restrict First Amendment activity.

Shared opinions

Opponents said the real solution is to reopen Lafayette Square.

Follansbee said even with the gates open, a fence would signal the park is open only by permission.

Critics of the designs said it would be too tempting to close the gates even without a legitimate security threat.

Cash said he swallowed a lot on the White House fence that he would not have if he knew people would be pushed another block away.

Pam Fessler said a fence would put another barrier between the American people and their government.

Associated Press

Trump appointees hear opposition to Lafayette Square fencing and gates in front of the White House

Bill Barrow

Published 3 Sep 2026 accessed 5 Sep 2026

Facts

No unique facts.

Opinion

No opinion marked.

PBS News

Trump appointees advance plans for Lafayette Square fencing and White House gates

Bill Barrow, Associated Press

Published 3 Sep 2026 accessed 5 Sep 2026

Facts

Historic preservationists, legal advocates, and Washington residents pushed back Thursday.

Paoletta rejected concerns about public access to the park.

The screening center would be on the grounds south of the Treasury Department.

Commissioners broadly agreed the screening facility is needed to streamline entry to the complex.

Planning Commissioner Evan Cash is not a Trump appointee.

The fine arts panel is controlled by Trump appointees.

The proposal covers the 8-acre park.

Opinion

Cash expressed frustration that the Secret Service was pushing the Lafayette Square project a decade after a White House perimeter fence.

The Washington Post

The Secret Service is getting the fortified White House that past presidents resisted

Dan Diamond

Published 3 Sep 2026 accessed 5 Sep 2026

Facts

Trump officials also unveiled revisions to a planned visitor screening center.

Trump followed a Secret Service recommendation to keep 82-acre President's Park off limits amid heightened security threats.

The need for a permanent visitor center has been discussed across multiple administrations.

Secret Service spokesman Nathan Herring said the visitors center and Lafayette Park fencing would enhance security while maintaining public access.

Administration officials said the current bollards and temporary fences in Lafayette Square are unsightly and insufficient.

White House and Secret Service spokesmen said the initiatives were necessary to protect the 18-acre White House and its surroundings.

White House spokesman Davis Ingle said the White House and Secret Service are always looking for ways to improve the complex's security apparatus.

Ingle said Trump is uniquely positioned to advance the 18 acres toward a 21st-century security posture.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Cultural Landscape Foundation, and other groups were set to warn against the fencing plans at Thursday's commission meeting.

President Bill Clinton closed Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House to vehicles in 1995.

Secret Service uniformed-division chief Richard H. Macauley said in July those protests underscored the need for new Lafayette Square fences.

Trump told reporters last month that it is only up to the Secret Service.

Trump has publicly credited the Secret Service with saving him.

The tension between White House security and public access predates Trump.

Administration officials cited protests after the May 2020 death of George Floyd as security risks that must be addressed.

Trump has followed Secret Service recommendations to speak behind bulletproof glass and limit some appearances.

In 2020, protesters swarmed Lafayette Square and clashed with law enforcement, and Trump was briefly taken to a secure location inside the White House.

Clinton said closing the avenue should be seen as a security step to preserve freedom, not a long-term restriction of it.

Macauley told the Commission of Fine Arts the Secret Service has to protect the public, the president, and the White House.

Trump secretly switched planes leaving Turkey after a NATO conference, a maneuver he later credited to the Secret Service.

Some Secret Service officials had pushed to replace Lafayette Square's red brick pavement, handpicked by Jacqueline Kennedy more than 60 years ago, over fears protesters would throw the bricks.

The Secret Service has not gotten everything on its wish list under Trump.

Administration officials decided to keep the red bricks but reset them so they would be more secure.

Trump said in the Oval Office last month they had a big decision to make on the pavers.

Opinion

President Trump is giving the Secret Service the fortified White House it wanted.

White House historian Ed Lengel said the White House is becoming a fortress.

Lengel said threats on the president's life are real but are being used as a pretext.

Preservationists and historians said protecting the president should still allow public access to the People's House.

WTOP News

Panel moves ahead with another piece of President Trump's plan to redesign DC

Alan Etter

Published 3 Sep 2026 accessed 5 Sep 2026

Facts

With one dissenting vote, the commission agreed to advance a proposal for permanent fencing around the park.

Fessler was among seven members of the public who testified, all condemning the project.

A Secret Service assessment concluded that recent shootings near the White House and assassination attempts made permanent fencing necessary.

Evan Cash, representing the D.C. Council, was the only commissioner who voted no.

The plan is for an eight-foot permanent fence.

Officials are charged with balancing free-speech rights against security for the president and for visitors near the White House.

The screening center is under development by the Secret Service and the National Park Service.

The screening-center entrance would be near 15th and E streets NW.

The planned screening facility is 33,000 square feet.

Opinion

Some commissioners and members of the public warned a permanent fence would send the wrong message about free speech in America.

Follansbee said people will fear the Park Service and Secret Service, directed by the president, will have unfettered discretion to close the park at will.

ACLU of D.C. attorney Laura Follansbee warned the fence could restrict First Amendment rights.

Fessler said people need to be able to gather and express themselves.

Follansbee said she expects this and future administrations could keep the gates closed indefinitely.

Cash said the balance between security and access is way, way off.

Cash called the security proposals security theater meant to dissuade people from gathering in protest.

Paoletta said he does not want to lose the momentum and that the status quo cannot continue.

The New Republic

Trump Wants to Permanently Shut Historic Site for Protests

Edith Olmsted

Published 3 Sep 2026 accessed 5 Sep 2026

Facts

Lafayette Square was closed January 19 for a major rehabilitation that was set to reopen May 31.

Trump officials also presented plans for a $180 million visitor-screening facility.

The National Park Service said Lafayette Square, Sherman Park, the First Division Monument, and the Ellipse would remain restricted through Sept. 22.

The Park Service said lesser restrictive measures will not suffice based on a Secret Service security assessment.

The pedestrianized stretch of Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House would also remain closed.

Earlier this summer that stretch was turned into a parking lot for Trump celebratory events.

Opinion

The New Republic says Trump is taking extraordinary efforts to keep protesters out of his eyeline.

The New Republic says permanent changes would turn the White House complex into an impenetrable fortress.

The New Republic says the fence will be made a reality at the expense of the public.

The New Republic says Trump has been using the surrounding city as a personal playground all summer.

The New Republic says the fence plan distills a widening gap between the Trump administration and the people it purports to represent.

The New Republic says Trump's authoritarianism has led to useless militarization of Washington.

The New Republic called the Iran conflict Trump's optional war.

The New Republic says the fencing would be easier to believe as precaution if Trump were not obsessed with unilateral White House grounds changes.

The New Republic says Trump is not interested in more angry feedback from the American people.