We know the White House can be targeted and destroyed. In August 1814, a British force attacked Washington and burned many public buildings, including the White House.

At a White House dinner during his recent state visit, King Charles III, observing the Trump administration's extensive White House construction projects, wryly mentioned the War of 1812 attack: "I cannot help noticing the 'readjustments' to the East Wing, Mr. President. ... I am sorry to say that we British, of course, made our own attempt at real estate redevelopment of the White House in 1814."

In 1814, the White House was simply the president's official residence.

That's not the case in 2026. Electronic communications make the mansion a major U.S. command and control center for defense, diplomatic and economic. Arguably, it is the primary command center for U.S. international media operations.

And it needs to be protected against these proliferating threats — now, not later.

Electronic command and control communications came to Pennsylvania Avenue in March 1862, when Secretary of War Edwin Stanton installed a telegraph in the War Department's Winder Building.

Located a block from the White House (17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue), President Abraham Lincoln visited the Winder office every day. Via telegraph, he obtained near-real-time situation reports — the first leader in world history to run a war with that revolutionary tool. On occasion, Lincoln made strategic command decisions and immediately transmitted them to Union military leaders.

In 1862, however, attacking Pennsylvania Avenue and targeting the president meant defeating Union ground and naval forces and penetrating Washington's ground defenses.

That situation continued until the end of World War I, when a possible limited air threat to government buildings emerged — perhaps a suicide plane with a bomb? However, two oceans and a huge navy protected the U.S. and the White House from direct attack.

World War II brought major changes and very direct threats. The Presidential Emergency Operations Center was first built for President Franklin D. Roosevelt during World War II in 1942. The PEOC was basically an underground bunker to protect the president, his family and staff.

On 9/11, the PEOC became a refuge from suicide aircraft attack — a deadly fact, no longer a theoretical possibility.

Today, the White House and every other discrete surface target on Planet Earth faces an array of targeting threats. Given D.C.'s street cameras, motion sensors, overhead observers and counter-sniper eyes, approaching the White House is a difficult task for a suicide terrorist with a bomb strapped to his chest.

One-way explosive drones are another matter, and a threat President Trump frequently mentions. Note these drones are essentially robot aircraft.

Drones can be used in a surprise "close-in" attack on point targets. Ukraine's Operation Spider Web is an example. Ukraine infiltrated trucks carrying crates with drones into Russia. The drones destroyed Russian heavy bombers based 2,000 kilometers from the war zone.

The White House — a point target satellites see from space — faces similar attacks.

Likewise, a vehicle with a two-ton bomb or a chemical gas canister could detonate near the White House.

The 21st-century White House, below and above ground, definitely needs a strong steel and concrete skeleton and multiple ventilation systems.

In March, Trump indicated that's a driver in the new construction. "The military's building a massive complex under the ballroom," he said, "and that's under construction and ... the ballroom essentially becomes a shed for what's being built under the military, including from drones and including from any other thing." The ballroom would also have "high-grade bulletproof glass."

On May 19, Trump went into more detail, discussing "drone proofing" the White House with defenses on the roof (missiles or lasers?) and anti-drone drones (interceptor drones). He also mentioned the new White House entrance will have six underground floors for use by the military and Secret Service.

The April 25 Washington Hilton assassination attempt demonstrated the White House needs a protected ballroom/meeting room that can be isolated from local foot and vehicle traffic. Critics of the ballroom ignore this threat.

To find out more about Austin Bay and read features by other Creators writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate webpage at www.creators.com.

Photo credit: René DeAnda at Unsplash