Trump urges need for secure White House ballroom after dinner shooting, says hotel setting 'tough' to protect

"You can't have a thousand rooms [above] or whatever. It is a very big hotel on top of the ballroom and people come down in the elevator, and they're right next to the ballroom… nobody's blaming them. They're good people... I've been in that room many times, but it's had difficulty in the past and the new one [at the White House] is set not to have that kind of thing."

Trump touted security features anticipated for the White House space, including four-inch-thick bulletproof glass. He reiterated that the isolated space would be more secure by design compared to the present hotel location where the suspected gunman had been staying as a guest.

"It's pretty tough [to secure]," he said of the hotel.

"We're building a big, beautiful, very, very secure ballroom in every way with massive bulletproof glass that's almost four inches thick... and all of the elements that you need, like, drone-proofing."

Trump was eager to see the event go on after the suspect was apprehended, but ultimately abided by law enforcement guidance and refrained.

"We can't let these criminals, and really bad people, change the course of our country," Trump added on Sunday, explaining his desire to return.

The suspected gunman, identified as 31-year-old Cole Thomas Allen of Torrance, California, is currently in custody and is slated to be arraigned on Monday.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche did not specify which officials were Allen's intended targets during a Sunday NBC News appearance, but did not rule out that the president may have been a focus.