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WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump on Thursday sharply criticized a federal judge who blocked aboveground construction of a proposed White House ballroom, calling the decision politically motivated and a risk to national security.
“The White House doesn’t have a Ballroom (No Taxpayer Money!), which Presidents have desperately wanted and desired for over 150 years, but a Trump Hating, Washington, D.C. District Court Judge, a man who has gone out of his way to undermine National Security, and to make sure that this Great Gift to America gets delayed, or doesn’t get built, is attempting to prevent future Presidents and World Leaders from having a safe and secure large scale Meeting Place, or Ballroom,” the president wrote on Truth Social.
President Trump said the planned facility would include extensive security features, adding it would have “Bomb Shelters, a State of the Art Hospital and Medical Facilities, Protective Partitioning, Top Secret Military Installations, Structures, and Equipment, Protective Missile Resistant Steel, Columns, Roofs, and Beams, Drone Proof Ceilings and Roofs, Military Grade Venting, and Bullet, Ballistic, and Blast Proof Glass —which all means that no future President, living in the White House without this Ballroom, can ever be Safe and Secure at Events, Future Inaugurations, or Global Summits.”
Richard Leon ruled Thursday that aboveground construction on the roughly $400 million project cannot proceed, responding to instructions from an appeals court to clarify an earlier order. The project is planned for the site of the demolished East Wing of the White House.
The administration said it will appeal the decision. President Trump said “the Ballroom, which is being constructed on budget and ahead of schedule, is needed now.”
“Almost all material necessary for its construction is being built and/or on its way to the site, ready for installation and erection. Much of it has already been paid for, costing Hundreds of Millions of Dollars,” he wrote.
In earlier findings, Leon said the president likely exceeded his authority and that congressional approval would be required for such construction on federal property. He also ruled that any work necessary to ensure White House safety could continue despite the injunction.
President Trump rejected the ruling, writing, “This highly political Judge, and his illegal overreach, is out of control, and costing our Nation greatly. This is a mockery to our Court System!”
“The Ballroom is deeply important to our National Security, and no Judge can be allowed to stop this Historic and Militarily Imperative Project,” he added.
The lawsuit was filed in December by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, shortly after demolition of the East Wing began.