An appeals court has accepted President Donald Trump’s claim that keeping his large ballroom project going is important for national security.
The construction of Trump’s $400 million ballroom, which includes an underground bunker, will now continue even though a federal judge had ordered a stop to the work earlier this month.
The judge’s order required the work to stop by April 14.
However, Trump’s legal team said stopping the project would leave a big excavation site next to the Executive Mansion, which is now open and exposed. They argued this would create serious threats to the White House, the President, his family, and his staff.
They claimed that without the ballroom, the President would be at risk from various dangers like drone attacks, missile strikes, shooting, and biohazards.
On Saturday, the appeals court agreed with Trump’s argument, stating that the current safety of the President, his family, and staff is more important than future plans.
The upgrades to the East Wing are not cosmetic; instead, they involve the use of missile-resistant steel columns, beams, drone-proof roofing materials, and bullet, ballistic, and blast proof glass windows. They also include the installation of bomb shelters, hospital and medical facilities, protective partitioning, and topsecret military installations, air conditioning, heating, venting, and more. These upgrades, alterations, and improvements to the dilapidated, infested, and structurally unsound prior East Wing, are essential to protecting the President, his family, and his staff, as well as the White House itself, and the entire project flows from them.
The ruling also said that Congress has given the President the authority to make such changes.
Trump had previously demolished the historic East Wing of the White House in October, saying he was not going to let it be damaged.
He said the cost of the 90,000 square foot ballroom was being covered by donations, not by taxpayer money.
On Air Force One in March, Trump blamed a lawsuit from The National Trust for revealing his plans for the underground bunker.
He said, “Now, the military is building a big complex under the ballroom, which has come out recently because of a stupid lawsuit that was filed.
But the military is building a massive complex under the ballroom, and that’s under construction and we’re doing very well.”
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