A U.S. federal appeals court has ordered the administration of President Donald Trump to halt the construction of a ballroom on the site of the demolished East Wing of the White House.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld a temporary injunction previously obtained by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The Trust filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration last year. This was a significant blow to the president, who had actively promoted the project, stating that the White House needed a large ballroom for official events. The court’s decision was suspended for 14 days to allow the Trump administration to appeal it to the U.S. Supreme Court. Trump confirmed this step, stating that his team would “immediately file an appeal” to the Supreme Court.
Trump’s harsh criticism
The U.S. president criticized the decision, calling it “horrible, politically motivated, and illegal”. In a social media post, Trump added that the Court of Appeals “refused to recognize that the desperately needed and absolutely safe ballroom, which is being built ahead of schedule and costs less than anticipated, is a gift from President Trump and great patriots of the United States of America”.
Court’s explanation
Judges Patricia Millett and Brad Garcia, both appointed by Democratic presidents, stated that the decision does not permanently ban the construction of the ballroom. It only suspends groundwork during the judicial review and until the White House obtains congressional approval. The court noted that “each president is a temporary resident, not the owner of the White House” and cannot fundamentally alter it without congressional approval.
The majority of the panel of judges wrote: “Whether a large ballroom should be built is for Congress to decide, and it is not a matter for the executive branch to decide on its own”. The court also stated that Congress had not granted unlimited powers to the executive branch to radically redesign, alter the appearance, and reconstruct the White House—the “People’s House”—according to the desires of a particular president. Furthermore, the court criticized the “audacious claim that the executive branch can act with complete lawlessness, destroying valuable national monuments and harming the interests of individuals”.
Source: Deutsche Welle
