March 31, 2026
President Trump needs to stop that ballroom construction like now.
The president of the United States is the steward of the White House for future generations of first families. He is not, however, the owner! …I must therefore grant the National Trust’s motion for a preliminary injunction, and the ballroom construction project must stop until congress authorizes its completion.
That is the order that just came down from a federal judge in Washington DC that says president trump’s– at least preliminarily – does not have the legal authority to tear down the east wing and just build whatever he wants with no oversight or approval from congress. Even if he’s getting the reported $200 million cost covered by “donors.” And you may want to hang on and listen to what this federal judge had to say – because as I was reading his order all I could think was he was giving the eye roll emoji. And I’ll prove it. Hang on.
So let me just back up so you know what’s going on. The National Trust for Historic Preservation is the one suing the Trump administration over this ballroom. That’s an organization that’s been around for more than 75 years and their mission is to save America’s historic places. They sued saying Trump did not go through any of the normal steps to get any approvals for this project and he tore down part of a historic building in the process.
And the judge agreed and issued a preliminary injunction…. Saying that according to the law from 1912 – no building or structure is allowed to be erected on any reservation, park or public grounds of the federal government in the District of Columbia without express authority of Congress. The judge also agreed with the National Trust argued that trump overstepped his authority by moving ahead with this project. The judge says the president is well within his authority if he wants to do general maintenance, repair, alteration, refurnishing, improvement air conditioning, heading and lighting of the executive residence or the white house. But according to the judge, “nothing more!” Exclamation point.
The judge even mocked four different Trump administration’s arguments in his order. All of them attempt to justify why President Trump has every authority necessary to knock down the east wing and build the ballroom. Four different times the judge wrote “please!” Exclamation point. For example the judge wrote thus, according to defendants, any construction delay will undermine national security. Please! While I take seriously the government’s concerns regarding the safety and security of the white house grounds and the president himself, the existence of a “large hole” beside the white house is, of course, a problem of the president’s own making.”
I point out the exclamation points here because this judge used a lot of them in this ruling…in fact my count – he used 27 exclamation points. That’s not normal.
Now – while the judge said that Trump must immediately stop ballroom construction. But he said this order will take effect in 14 days which gives the Trump administration the time to appeal. Which they most certainly will.
Read the judge’s order here.
