President Donald Trump on Friday blamed two federal judges appointed by former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden after they ruled against his plan to build a White House ballroom and military complex.
A divided federal appeals court ruled that the Trump administration must stop construction of the $400 million White House ballroom because Congress did not authorize the project. The court found the president does not have unilateral authority to replace the East Wing with the planned 90,000-square-foot ballroom.
In a Truth Social post, Trump criticized the judges’ reasoning, arguing that presidents have the authority to renovate, improve, and secure the White House without congressional approval because they are elected by the American people.
“Two Judges, one appointed by Barack Hussein Obama, the other by Sleepy Joe Biden, said in a ruling on the desperately needed SECURE Ballroom/Military Complex, including a major DronePort on the roof, that ‘Each President is a temporary tenant … of the White House.’” Trump wrote.
“We are not tenants, who pay rent and do all other things that a tenant must do, we are PRESIDENTS, elected by the people of the United States of America, and have many rights, including the right to fix, renovate, secure, protect, and beautify the White House grounds, which has been built and rebuilt, renovated and rerenovated, repaired and, simply, MADE BETTER, many times since 1792, and never needing the permission of Congress.”
Trump called the court’s decision a threat to national security, saying it halted a project that was already largely built and funded.
Prior to the court decision, Trump shared an aerial photo showing construction underway at the White House’s East Wing, saying the project remained on budget and ahead of schedule.
In a Truth Social post Tuesday, Trump said the military complex under construction would include a drone port, though he noted the structure was not yet visible in the photo because the steel had already been fabricated and would be installed soon.
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