“The ballroom is very important for our national security, and no judge has the right to put an end to this historic and absolutely necessary military project,” reacted Donald Trump after Judge Richard Leon’s decision.
A federal judge in the United States extended the suspension of the construction of the ballroom wanted by Donald Trump on Thursday, April 16, but gave the green light for the continuation of work on an underground bunker project at the White House.
“Underground work can continue, including the construction of any ‘top-secret excavation, bunkers, bomb shelters, protective partitions, military facilities, and medical and hospital establishments’,” Judge Richard Leon enumerated in his decision.
However, he clarified that the construction project of a bunker could continue in the context of national security on the condition that it does not “definitively determine the size and scope of the surface ballroom.”
Invoking “national security does not give carte blanche to conduct activities that would otherwise be illegal,” he added.
Donald Trump denounced this decision on Truth Social, calling the judge “highly political” and “out of control.” “It’s a parody of our judicial system!” he wrote. “The ballroom is very important for our national security, and no judge has the right to put an end to this historic and absolutely necessary military project.”
A room designed to accommodate up to 1,000 people
According to him, blocking the construction of the ballroom “means that no future president, living in the White House without the ballroom, will be secure during events, future inauguration ceremonies, or international summits.”
In October, the Republican president had bulldozed an entire wing of the White House to build this ballroom intended to accommodate up to 1,000 people, for various receptions and dinners in honor of foreign dignitaries.
In December, the National Trust for Historic Preservation (NTHP) brought the matter to justice, accusing the Trump administration of not complying with legal requirements for public inquiry, or obtaining Congress’s authorization for this project, whose budget, financed by private donations, doubled, going from $200 million to $400 million (approximately 339 million euros).
