Judge halts Trump’s ballroom construction, permits bunker work to proceed – National

A court halting construction of U.S. President Donald Trump’s US$400 million White House ballroom is allowing the administration to proceed with below-ground work on a bunker and other “national security facilities” at the site.

A federal judge said Thursday that he would amend his order “to stop only above-ground construction of the planned ballroom” in response to an appeals court’s instruction to clarify an earlier decision.

U.S. District Judge Richard Leon’s latest ruling still blocks the Trump administration’s plan to start this month on above-ground construction of a 8,400-square-metre ballroom where it demolished the East Wing of the White House.

Leon’s ruling comes after the White House asked federal appeals court to allow construction on Trump’s ballroom to continue, claiming that it creates a “security risk” for Trump and his family.

“Defendants argue that the entire ballroom construction project, from tip to tail, falls within the safety-and-security exception and therefore may proceed unabated,” Leon wrote in his ruling on Thursday.

“That is neither a reasonable nor a correct reading of my Order! My Order preliminarily enjoined Defendants (excluding the President) from ‘taking any action in furtherance of the physical development of the proposed ballroom.’”

“It is, to say the least, incredible, if not disingenuous, that Defendants now argue that my Order does not stop ballroom construction because of the safety-and-security exception,” he added.

Leon notes that his amended order does not “stop below-ground construction of national security facilities, work necessary to provide for presidential security, and construction necessary to protect and secure the White House and the construction site itself.”

“The exception for underground national security facilities does not include the proposed ballroom because Defendants themselves distinguished between below-ground and above-ground construction, stating that ‘the below-surface work is driven by national security concerns independent of the above-grade construction,’” the ruling added.

Leon said that the administration does not “explain why the proposed 90,000-square-foot ballroom — the source of the National Trust’s claimed injury and likely unauthorized by statue — is required for security purposes now.”

The judge clarified that the defendants may “cover and secure the below-ground construction while litigation proceeds.”

“As noted by our Circuit Court, the ballroom’s planned security features are still months, if not years, away from being realized-belying Defendants’ argument that an inability to implement those features now imposes irreparable harm.,” Leon’s ruling added.

Leon amended his preliminary injunction and ordered that below-ground construction may proceed, “including the construction of any ‘top-secret excavations, bunkers, bomb-shelters, protective partitioning, military installations, and hospital and medical facilities,’ as well as such above-ground construction strictly.”

“However, the injunction does not permit above-ground construction of the proposed ballroom,” the legal docs noted.

Leon said that national security “is not a blank check to proceed with otherwise unlawful activity.” He also said that he has “no desire or intention to be dragooned into the role of construction manager.”

In response to Leon’s ruling, Trump referred to him as “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.”

He accused Leon of “attempting to prevent future Presidents and World Leaders from having a safe and secure large scale Meeting Place, or Ballroom, one with 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.”

Trump said Leon’s ruling “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.”

“This Magnificent Space will allow them to carry out their vital duties as the Leader of our Nation. Furthermore, the Ballroom, which is being constructed on budget and ahead of schedule, is needed now,” he wrote in a post on Truth Social.

“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,” Trump added.

In his previous order, Leon barred above-ground work on the ballroom from proceeding without congressional approval. The judge also ruled on March 31 that any construction work that’s necessary to ensure the safety and security of the White House is exempt from the scope of the injunction.

Leon said he reviewed material that the government privately submitted to him before concluding that halting construction wouldn’t jeopardize national security.

On Saturday, a three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said it didn’t have enough information to decide how much of the project can be suspended without jeopardizing the safety of the president, his family or the White House staff.

This came after a motion filed on April 3 by National Park Service lawyers, who said that the federal judge’s order to suspend construction of the new facility is “threatening grave national-security harms to the White House, the President and his family, and the President’s staff.”

The ballroom is “a vital project for the safety and security of the White House and the President, his family, and his staff,” the administration said. “Halting construction would imperil the President and others who live and work in the White House.”

The motion noted that almost $400 million in “private donations and contributions have already been committed, or spent” in the purchase of building materials.

“As an example, the protective missile resistant steel columns, beams, drone proof roofing materials, and bullet, ballistic, and blast proof glass, are largely made, being used, and/or on their way to the project. Likewise, the bomb shelters, hospital and medical area, protective partitioning, and Top Secret Military installations, structures, and equipment, are built and/or ready to be built, installed, and placed,” the motion said.

“Time is of the essence!” the lawyers wrote, citing materials that will be installed to make a “heavily fortified” facility.

The lawyers also said that the judge was “given an opportunity to see the construction taking place at the site, but surprisingly, never responded to our invite.”

Trump’s ballroom construction plans have experienced numerous setbacks and delays.

In March, the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) opened a forum where the public could comment on the project. The commission would then vote on whether to move forward with the White House renovation.

The commission received more than 32,000 written comments — mostly negative — about the 90,000-square-foot ballroom addition.

The NCPC, which oversees federal building construction, said a “vast majority” of the comments received “are in opposition to the project” and noted that a high percentage of those raising objections focused on components of the project outside of the NCPC’s purview.

With an 8-1 vote, Trump’s ballroom won final approval from the 12-member NCPC, allowing the plan to move forward.

—With files from The Associated Press