President Donald Trump’s court fight over the $400 million White House East Wing ballroom casts some light on an underground bunker at the site. Secrecy surrounding White House security makes details hard to come by. But the bunker emerged recently in the Trump administration's court fight against the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which is challenging the ballroom project in Washington. The bunker beneath the East Wing dates to Franklin D. Roosevelt’s presidency, when an underground bomb shelter was installed in 1942 after the U.S. entered World War II. High-profile flights to an underground bunker at the White House include Vice President Dick Cheney being taken there on Sept. 11, 2001.