Trump ramps up ballroom push with sharply worded filing after shooting
Published in Political News
President Donald Trump ramped up his push for a new White House ballroom on Tuesday by promoting an unorthodox and sharply worded legal filing after the shooting attack at the White House Correspondents Association Dinner.
Trump posted legal papers filed by his Department of Justice that included his claims that the historic preservation group suing to block the glitzy $400 million project is “FAKE” and that critics suffer from “Trump Derangement Syndrome.”
“Even their name is FAKE because when they add the words ‘in the United States’ to the National Trust for Historic Preservation, it makes it sound like a Governmental Agency, which it is not,” prosecutors wrote in a filing that Trump shared on his social media site. “They are very bad for our Country. They stop many projects that are worthy, and hurt many others.”
Prosecutors accused the trust, which convinced a federal district judge to order a temporary pause in construction, of ignoring claims that the project is needed to bolster national security.
“This did not deter them because they suffer from Trump Derangement Syndrome, commonly referred to as TDS,” prosecutors wrote, using unusually pointed and intemperate language for a filing in federal court.
It mentioned the weekend attack, in which a gunman ran past security at the Washington Hilton and opened fire before being apprehended, as evidence of the need for the proposed new White House ballroom.
“With such a facility, it would have been impossible for an attack like that which took place last Saturday evening in D.C.,” the filing continued.
The trust rejected the effort to invoke the attack.
“What Saturday’s awful event does not change is that the Constitution and multiple federal statutes require Congress to authorize construction of a ballroom on White House grounds, and that Congress has not done so,” wrote Gregory Craig, a lawyer for the group.
Trump makes no secret that he will pull out all the stops to force through the ballroom, a pet project that he has sought to build without public input or approval.
Along with the court fight, his Republican allies in Congress have introduced bills that would retroactively grant approval for the project, which includes a new secure bunker facility underground as well as a 90,000-square-foot ballroom that would dwarf the old East Wing and the rest of the White House complex.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said the government should bankroll such a significant project.
“Private donations can be used, but I think they should be used for buying china and stuff like that,” Graham said.
But other Republicans say the taxpaying public shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth.
“We have $39 trillion in debt,” Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., said. “Maybe we ought to stop spending money.”
Democrats mostly oppose to the ballroom, although Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., broke with the party, as he often does, to back Trump’s stance.
Analysts note that private events like the WHCA dinner would be unlikely to be held at the White House regardless of the outcome of the ballroom dispute. About 2,600 people attended the event on Saturday, while Trump’s ballroom is planned to accommodate about 1,000.
The preservation group sued in December, a week after the White House finished demolishing the East Wing. Trump says the project is funded by private donors but has refused to release a list of donations or explain if any of them have potential conflicts.
The lawsuit claims Trump overstepped his authority by moving forward with the project without first getting approval from key federal agencies and Congress.
A federal judge blocked the above-ground portion of the ballroom project. But an appeals court paused the order pending a hearing set for June 5.
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