Just a bit too freaking late!
Maybe they could have done this BEFORE he demolished the entire #EastWing of the #WhiteHouse?!?!
#NationalTrust sues to stop #Trump #ballroom construction
The organization, which is charged by #Congress with #HistoricPreservation, has retained President Barack Obama’s former lawyer as it seeks to pause the project.
#law #HistoricLandmark #USHistory #conservation
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/12/12/trump-ballroom-lawsuit-construction/
Historic preservationists begged #Trump in October not to rapidly demolish the White House’s #EastWing annex for his #ballroom project, urging him to wait for federal review panels & allow the public to weigh in [begging & urging don’t work on him]. Now a group charged by #Congress with helping preserve historic buildings is asking a judge to block construction until those reviews occur, arguing the ongoing project is #illegal & #unconstitutional.
The lawsuit from the nonprofit #NationalTrust for #HistoricPreservation, which was filed Friday in the US District Court for DC, represents the first major legal challenge to Trump’s planned 90,000-square-foot addition & is poised to test the limits of his #power. The organization argues that the admin failed to undergo legally required reviews or receive congressional authorization for the project, which #Trump has rushed to launch in hopes of completing it before his term ends in 2029.
“No president is legally allowed to tear down portions of the White House without any review whatsoever — not President Trump, not President Joe Biden, & not anyone else,” the complaint says. [yeah, no shit. Too late.]
#Trump #law #WhiteHouse #EastWing #ballroom #HistoricLandmark #USHistory #conservation
#Trump has also maintained that he is not bound by typical building restrictions or the need to seek construction approvals, citing conversations with advisers and experts.
“They said, ‘Sir, this is the White House. You’re the president of the United States, you can do anything you want,’” Trump said at an October dinner to celebrate the ballroom’s donors.
#FactCheck #TrumpLies #law #WhiteHouse #EastWing #ballroom #HistoricLandmark #USHistory #conservation
…The #NationalTrust …alleges that the #Trump admin violated the #Constitution’s property clause, which authorizes #Congress to oversee property on #FederalLand.
The National Trust’s lawsuit names Trump & other admin officials, including at the National Park Service [#NPS] & the General Services Administration [#GSA], as defendants.
#law #WhiteHouse #EastWing #ballroom #HistoricLandmark #USHistory #conservation
#WhiteHouse officials have previously dismissed criticism from the #NationalTrust, [in their typical manner] arguing that its leaders are “loser Democrats & liberal donors” who oppose #Trump on political grounds 🙄. However , the National Trust has a decades-long association with Trump: In 1995, he donated easements to the org to make his #MarALago resort in Florida a historic property in exchange for #TaxBreaks.
#FactCheck #TrumpLies #law #EastWing #ballroom #HistoricLandmark #USHistory
…The #WhiteHouse also has defended the project by drawing a distinction between construction on the grounds, which admin officials say is covered by federal review panels, & demolition & site prep, which they maintain is not.
However, the #NationalTrust says that this is a distinction without a difference. Recent photos have shown that heavy construction machinery & teams of people are working regularly on the site, & #Trump has said that pile drivers are operating “all day, all night.”
Carol Quillen, #NationalTrust’s CEO said she did not have a “hard objection” to a #WhiteHouse #ballroom — so long as its size, materials & design were consistent with the White House & did not overshadow the main building. It is the National Trust’s job, she said, to preserve #Americanhistory, particularly at the White House, given the building’s iconic status & central role. She noted that the org has also brought legal challenges to past admins’ construction projects.
Pile driving isn't "demolition" or "site preparation". It's constructing the framework of piles and supports that are the base of the building, helping hold it up by bearing the weight.
It's considered part of the building (at least where and when I've been).
It also reveals the main goal of the East Wing demolition, rebuilding the bomb shelters & security apparatus underneath the ballroom.
https://forward.com/fast-forward/778675/white-house-east-wing-demolition-trump-fdr-bomb-shelter/
https://www.cnn.com/2025/10/26/politics/white-house-east-wing-history
A remodel is also a superb opportunity to install foreign intelligence surveillance devices
https://www.nytimes.com/1988/11/15/world/the-bugged-embassy-case-what-went-wrong.html
https://www.bbc.com/audio/play/p04bjbcx
Saddam Hussein & Assad also rebuilt the subfloors of their palaces too.
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2016/10/saddam-hussein-upper-east-side-torture-chamber.html
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/jul/23/iraq.suzannegoldenberg
Dozens of companies and wealthy individuals have given money toward President Trump's $300 million White House ballroom project. Many have also sought favorable policies from his administration.
Trump's repeating verbatim Stephen Miller and Koch Network views on the constitutional heresy: Unitary Executive Theory
The cadence, word choice, and phrasing reveals extensive coaching because Trump cannot string a coherent sentence together anymore.
Unpaywalled.
https://archive.ph/7XwYo
@Nonilex Would they have been able to bring the lawsuit before the demolition? If Trump said he was not touching the East Wing, and if there had not been any demolition yet, would there have been grounds? Could an injunction have been issued in advance, and if so, on what grounds?
I agree fully with the outrage. Just not sure how preventing it would have worked.
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