Washington (United States) (AFP) – The US Supreme Court on Friday allowed construction of a massive White House ballroom to continue for now, giving President Donald Trump a temporary victory for one of his pet renovation projects.
Chief Justice John Roberts temporarily lifted a lower court ruling that had demanded a halt to the building of the controversial ballroom by midnight on Friday.
Roberts's one-sentence order means that work on the ballroom, which has been challenged by historical preservation groups, may proceed while litigation plays out in the lower courts.
Trump, in a post on Truth Social, said he was "grateful" for the Supreme Court decision.
"The Military/Ballroom Complex being built on the hallowed grounds of the White House, which is so vital for National Security, will be the greatest of its kind!" he said. "Construction is under budget and ahead of schedule."
The Trump administration asked the conservative-dominated Supreme Court last week to allow it to finish building the ballroom and an underground bunker at the White House, saying the project was essential for national security.
Trump ordered the demolition of the entire historic East Wing of the White House last year -- without input from Congress -- to make way for his long-desired ballroom, but the project was quickly challenged in court.
A district court ordered a halt to work on the aboveground ballroom while allowing construction of the underground military bunker to proceed, but that order had been stayed while on appeal.
The appellate court recently upheld the lower court's order, agreeing that such a sweeping White House overhaul required the explicit consent of Congress, but gave the administration time to appeal to the Supreme Court.
Trump initially touted the construction of the ballroom as being necessary to host galas and state dinners, but has since repeatedly emphasized the addition of a sophisticated underground military bunker and other security features.
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19 Comments
danc4498@lemmy.world · 24 pts · 1d
I can't wait for Jan 6th 2029 to see what this is really for.
Uli@sopuli.xyz · 12 pts · 1d
What it's really for is to hide an underground data center that's located at the White House, so it's covered by executive privilege and can't be accessed via freedom of information requests.
A YouTube journalist connected the dots last December: https://youtu.be/VbJ4ilDvGyc
Gloomy@mander.xyz · 4 pts · 1d
It's where Elon will upload President Trumps consciousness so he can rule over mankind using AI Pictures and Truth Social for eternity.
green_red_black@slrpnk.net · 1 pts · 1d
A tacky ball room and an underground bunker no different then the previous one (yes really, the East Wing was where the president situation room was.).
FaceDeer@fedia.io · 18 pts · 1d
"The Military/Ballroom Complex" is a phrase that time-traveler me from 2023 is going to be a little baffled by.
rockSlayer@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 13 pts · 1d
If Caesar wants a triumph, he will get a triumph
Warl0k3@lemmy.world · 11 pts · 1d
Hey now, rude comparison - Caesar won his wars...
bedwyr@piefed.ca · 7 pts · 1d
This man is no Caesar.
rockSlayer@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 3 pts · 1d
Take a look at the history of Julius Caesar from 45 BCE to 44 BCE. I'm referring to this Historia Civilis video
green_red_black@slrpnk.net · 1 pts · 1d
Still no Caeser. As Caeser was competant as a dictator and won the support of the everyday romans.
tanisnikana@lemmy.world · 11 pts · 1d
Trump can only ever be “grateful,” he will never be grateful. He has “emotions,” not emotions.
And he doesn’t even get the quotation marks knockoff of empathy.
galacticworm@piefed.social · 9 pts · 1d
This has a ‘you will never get me out of here’ bunker below it, doesn’t it?
Drusas@fedia.io · 3 pts · 1d
That's the part that they never did stop work on.
apftwb@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 1d
Just weld the doors shut and disable the intercom. The office of the presidency isn't a physical object he can steal.
CubitOom@infosec.pub · 8 pts · 1d
Somewhere, there is a writer kicking themselves for not thinking of this onion.
This is an easily provable lie.
ulkesh@piefed.social · 8 pts · 1d
Fuck this "Supreme" Court. At least 6 of them are pieces of shit who, in no way, care about the Constitution and law.
aReallyCrunchyLeaf@lemmy.ml · 6 pts · 1d
Legitimately soooooo funny lmao hes such a fucking catty removed all he wants is his ballroom 💅
HubertManne@piefed.social · 5 pts · 1d
so all future presidents will be able to raze any government structures at will.
OwOarchist@pawb.social · 0 pts · 1d
What future presidents? AI videos of Trump are going to be president for the next 500 years.