Judge Blocks Trump’s $400M Ballroom Project, Blocking Construction Unless Authorized by Congress
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a massive blow to Trump’s White House ballroom project, a federal judge today issued a preliminary injunction ordering construction to stop unless and until it is authorized by Congress.
Judge Richard Leon issued a 35-page opinion upholding a lawsuit brought by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which argued that the entire scheme for funding and construction the ballroom project was illegal because it was not authorized by the Constitution or any law. The judge rejected the “convoluted funding scheme” to raise $400 million from companies and billionaires through a private charity and the National Park Service and in “a sleight-of-hand maneuver” move the money into a White House repair fund controlled by Trump.
In response, Public Citizen democracy advocate Jon Golinger, said in a statement:
“Today’s ruling is a wrecking ball that demolishes the flimsy house of cards the Trump administration constructed to justify this corrupt scheme. As the judge correctly stated, the president is a steward of the White House, not the owner. It’s time for Congress to step up and tell President Trump to spend all the money he’s found for this to put the People’s House back the way it was when he moved in.”
Two key Public Citizen reports related to the White House Ballroom Project:
- Trump’s Three Ballroom Stooges highlights how White House officials James Blair, William Scharf and Stuart Levenbach are not legally qualified to sit on the National Capital Planning Commission and should recuse themselves from the vote on Trump’s Ballroom Project and resign from the commission.
- Banquet of Greed exposes a myriad of conflicts of interest concerns about pay-to-play government contracts and dropped enforcement actions benefiting ballroom donors.