Judge Richard Leon made his decision Tuesday after a request from the National Trust for Historic Preservation (NTHP), a nonprofit organization mandated by Congress to preserve historic buildings.
The decision is a setback for Donald Trump, who wants to leave his mark on American monuments. A federal judge ordered this Tuesday, March 31, the suspension of the construction of the ballroom wanted by the American president at the White House.
“The President of the United States is the guardian of the White House for future generations of presidential families. However, he is not the owner!”, wrote Judge Richard Leon in his decision, specifying that the project required the agreement of Congress.
“It is not too late for Congress to authorize continued construction of the ballroom project,” said the judge. “The President may at any time request that Congress expressly authorize him to construct a ballroom and to do so with private funds.”
A “group of left-wing extremist weirdos”
The magistrate nevertheless suspended the entry into force of his decision for two weeks, taking into account the government’s intention to appeal, which he did a little later in the afternoon.
The judge thus granted a request from the National Trust for Historic Preservation (NTHP), a non-profit organization mandated by Congress for the preservation of historic buildings.
The NTHP took legal action in December, accusing the Trump administration of failing to comply with legal requirements for a public investigation or obtain authorization from Congress for this project.
In a message published on his Truth Social network, Donald Trump criticizes the NTHP, which he calls “a group of left-wing extremist weirdos”, for taking legal action against him for “a ballroom which costs less than the expected budget, is ahead of schedule, built at no cost to the taxpayer and will be the most beautiful building in the world of this kind”.
A room that can accommodate up to 1,000 people
He also accuses him of challenging in court his renovation of the Kennedy Center, an emblematic performance hall in Washington that Donald Trump had renamed “Trump-Kennedy Center” rather than taking care of projects led by his pet peeves, like the president of the Federal Reserve (Fed) Jerome Powell, or the governor from California, Gavin Newsom.
In October, the Republican president bulldozed an entire wing of the White House to build a ballroom intended to accommodate up to 1,000 people, for various receptions and dinners in honor of foreign dignitaries.
The project, one of the most ambitious carried out on this famous site for more than a century, has continued to grow. Its estimated budget, financed by private donations, increased from 200 million to 400 million dollars.
