RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 1 sourcesAn appeals court upheld a ruling that only Congress — not the president — can authorize significant changes to the White House
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President Donald Trump issued a long Truth Social rant , complaining that "TREASONISTS" allegedly "revealed Top Military Secrets" by suing to stop the construction of his White House ballroom.
The "treasonists" in question are the National Trust for Historic Preservation , which has opposed Trump's ballroom — the construction of which began only after the president ordered the East Wing of the White House demolished — and has sued to halt further building at the site.
"They are very bad for our Country. They stop many projects that are worthy, and hurt many others. In this case, they are trying to stop one that is vital to our National Security, and the Safety of all Presidents of the United States, both current and future, their families, staff, and Cabinet members," Trump wrote Friday night.
The president fought the lawsuit to the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., where last week it ruled that the Constitution gives Congress — not the president — the power to make substantial changes to the White House. The decision upheld a previous ruling by District Judge Richard Leon, who determined that Trump is the “steward” of the White House, not “the owner!”
Trump and the Department of Justice have been insistent that completion of the ballroom is a dire national security issue and its construction can not be held up. That initially led to speculation that there might be more being built at the site than just a fancy dining room and dance floor, and the White House later confirmed it when Trump discussed putting a drone port on the roof.
U.S. Solicitor General D John Sauer opposed the court’s ruling on the injunction, citing the alleged safety threat to the president.
“If allowed to go into effect, the injunction would wrongfully install a single district judge as sole arbiter of what further construction is ‘strictly necessary’ to protect the safety of the President, his family, staff members, and visitors to the White House, including foreign dignitaries, and presidents and prime ministers of other countries,” he wrote on Friday.
Later that night, Trump took to Truth Social to accuse his ballroom opponents of treason and insist again that the ballroom is necessary for his safety.
"In this case, they are trying to stop one that is vital to our National Security, and the Safety of all Presidents of the United States, both current and future, their families, staff, and Cabinet members," he wrote.
Trump then claims that defense officials approached the National Trust for Historic Preservation and asked to drop the injunction to protect military details about what is shaping up to be more of a bunker than a ballroom.
"They were asked by the United States Military not to bring this suit because of the Top Secret nature of the important facility being built," Trump wrote. "They were shown detailed plans and specifications of this knitted, unified, and cohesive structure by Top Officers and Leaders in both the Military and Secret Service."
Trump complained that the lawsuit revealed "to everyone, including our enemies throughout the World, the Top Secret Military features of the Building that are already built, and/or under construction, such as the DronePort, which occupies the entire roof," even though he bragged about the drone port in public back in May.
The president accused the National Trust for Historic Preservation of suffering from "Trump Derangement Syndrome" because it opposes his decision to destroy a third of the White House to install a bunker and dining room.
Trump even noted that he had some bipartisan support for his claim, referencing the fact that — after the assassination attempt at this years' White House Correspondents Dinner — Congressman John Fetterman called for opponents to the ballroom to "drop the TDS [Trump Derangement Syndrome] and build the White House ballroom for events exactly like these."
Above ground construction on the project is currently on hold.
Trump initially insisted his ballroom would only cost $200 million and would be fully funded by private donations. The estimate has ballooned to at least $400 million and the Trump administration has already drawn $300 million from the Secret Service budget — taxpayer money — for White House security upgrades accounting for the construction at the site.
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