US appeals court blocks Trump’s $400 million White House ballroom project
The appeals court placed its ruling on hold for 14 days to allow the Trump administration to appeal to the US Supreme Court
The US appeals court has blocked construction of Donald Trump's $400m (£297m) White House ballroom.
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Getty
Donald Trump has lashed out at a US appeals court decision to block his construction of a $400m (£297m) White House ballroom. A federal appeals court ordered the Trump administration to stop construction of the ballroom on Friday, which is on the site of the White House's demolished East Wing.In a post on Truth Social, the US president branded the ruling “unjust”, saying it “must be overturned by the Supreme Court in its entirety”.Mr Trump called the project a “desperately needed” and “totally secure” ballroom, claiming construction was ahead of schedule and under budget. He said it was “a gift from President Trump and great patriots of the United States of America," adding there will be "no expense to the American taxpayer".The US president has previously said the $400m project would be funded by private donations; however, Senate Republicans have since sought $1bn in taxpayer funding for security upgrades to the ballroom and other structures beneath it.Read more: Trump claims Iran war will be over 'soon' and declares Strait of Hormuz 'sort of open'Read more: Trump launches new attempt to clamp down on birthright citizenship with ban on 'birth tourism'
Donald Trump speaks to the media alongside posters of his proposed White House ballroom amid construction at the White House on May 19.
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In a 2-1 opinion, the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said: "Each President is a temporary tenant, not the owner, of the White House" and cannot fundamentally reshape it without congressional approval.The order upheld a preliminary injunction won by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.The trust sued last year after the administration tore down the East Wing and began construction of the ballroom without seeking congressional authorisation.
The appeals court placed its ruling on hold for 14 days to allow the Trump administration to appeal to the US Supreme Court.Trump appealed after US District Judge Richard Leon twice blocked above-ground construction on the site while allowing underground work to continue.The ballroom plan, which the administration has described as necessary for large formal functions and to preserve the safety of the White House, is the grandest of several Trump efforts to reshape central Washington's landscape of government buildings and national monuments.A judge in a separate lawsuit recently said Trump’s name was illegally added to the exterior of the Kennedy Center performing arts venue and ordered its removal.
U.S. President Donald Trump holds artists renderings as he talks to reporters about his proposed White House ballroom next to the worksite.
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Justice Department attorney Yaakov Roth said during D.C. Circuit arguments on 5 June that the courts have no role in weighing the privately funded project, and that it would have been improper to block it at any point.Mr Roth said the National Trust's "architectural preference" against the ballroom should not take precedence over national security concerns, claiming evidence that the former East Wing left the president and others in the White House vulnerable to attack.But Thaddeus Heuer, a lawyer for the preservation group, countered this, saying: "They just don't want to go to Congress."
