U.S. President Donald Trump said at the Department of Justice Friday that he opposes current plans to build the new FBI headquarters in Greenbelt and will instead keep the building in Washington, D.C.
In November 2023, President Joe Biden’s administration chose Greenbelt as the location for the new FBI headquarters after a yearslong competition between Maryland and Virginia for the site, according to the Associated Press. The General Services Administration said the Prince George’s County site would provide the lowest cost for taxpayers, the outlet reported.
“We’re going to stop it. We’re not gonna let that happen,” Trump said. “We’re going to build another big FBI building right where it is.”
During his speech on Friday, Trump noted that Maryland is a “liberal state”, but emphasized that it did not influence his position.
Trump said the headquarters should remain in Washington, D.C., because the Department of Justice and FBI must be located near each other.
Maryland’s Democratic Congressional delegation and Gov. Wes Moore said in a statement on Friday that moving the headquarters to Greenbelt would help the FBI “meet its mission and security needs.”
“We will continue working to bring the headquarters to Maryland, following the final decision that was made to do so in 2023,” the statement read.
Trump has vocally supported keeping the headquarters in Washington, D.C., in the past, including in a May 2024 Truth Social post.
[Greenbelt will host new FBI headquarters]
“THE NEW FBI BUILDING SHOULD BE BUILT IN WASHINGTON, D.C., NOT MARYLAND, AND BE THE CENTERPIECE OF MY PLAN TO TOTALLY RENOVATE AND REBUILD OUR CAPITAL CITY INTO THE MOST BEAUTIFUL AND SAFEST ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD,” Trump wrote in the post.
The process to select a new FBI headquarters location has been heavily scrutinized in recent years.
After the GSA decided to move the headquarters to Greenbelt, Virginia politicians questioned how the selection was made, citing a change to the weight of the project cost in the selection criteria and a potential conflict of interest from a high-ranking GSA official, the Baltimore Banner reported in February.
A report by the GSA’s inspector general found there were flaws in the selection process, but that there were not any ethical issues, according to the Baltimore Banner. The report did not recommend overturning the decision to move the headquarters to Greenbelt, the Baltimore Banner reported.
The headquarters would bring more than 7,500 jobs and $4 billion in economic growth for Maryland, according to a 2023 statement from Moore.
