Donald Trump has drawn strong criticism for his changes to the White House, Kennedy Center, and other important buildings in Washington, D.C. However, on Friday, lawyers from the Department of Justice took the controversy even further by arguing in court that the government could “bulldoze” the Statue of Liberty if it wanted. This happened during a court hearing where the government was defending the president’s plan for a new ballroom in the White House.
The ballroom has been a major project for Trump, who last September called it “absolutely magnificent construction” and said it would be “one of the best anywhere in the world.”
But it’s been controversial. Trump promised that the building wouldn’t affect the current structure and would be close to the East Wing but not touch it. However, soon after he made that promise, parts of the East Wing were demolished, and eventually, the whole East Wing was torn down.
At first, Trump said the project would be paid for by private donors, but there wasn’t much detail on how that would happen.
This has led to questions about whether he’s using public money improperly. After an attempt to shoot the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, Trump and other Republicans pushed for using taxpayer money for the ballroom.
Other changes Trump has made include adding lots of gold to the Oval Office, new marble and gold fixtures in the Lincoln Bathroom, and redoing the Rose Garden.
He also wanted to repaint the Reflecting Pool, build an Arc de Triomphe-like monument, and had his name put on the Kennedy Center. A judge later ruled that his name had to be removed.
On Friday, DOJ lawyers were in court before a panel of three judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
The judges were Patricia Millett (appointed by Obama), Bradley Garcia (appointed by Biden), and Neomi Rao (appointed by Trump). Politico reporters Kyle Cheney and Josh Gerstein covered the court session, where Millett and Garcia were skeptical about the Trump administration’s claim that the courts couldn’t stop the ballroom project now that the East Wing was gone.
Millett asked, “When did it become a fait accompli?”
and questioned whether the government could act with total freedom without legal consequences. DOJ attorney Yaakov Roth replied that, according to the government’s argument, that’s what would happen.
Millett also asked about the Statue of Liberty, saying, “If the government decides, very quickly, to bulldoze the Statue of Liberty — the people whose ancestors that was the first thing they saw coming to this country, but the government moved too fast — nothing can be done?”
Roth responded that, according to the government’s position, that’s correct.
The Statue of Liberty is a 151-foot-tall copper neoclassical sculpture inspired by the Roman goddess of Liberty.
It was a gift from France to the United States and was designed by sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi. The structure was built on an iron framework designed by Gustave Eiffel, who later designed the Eiffel Tower.
The statue was built in pieces in France and shipped to the U.S. in crates to be assembled on Liberty Island, which overlooks New York Harbor.
After the pedestal was finished in April 1886, the statue itself was built and it was officially opened on October 28, 1886. Its official name is “Liberty Enlightening the World,” or “La Liberté éclairant le monde” in French.
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