President Donald Trump on Friday took aim at two federal judges appointed by former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden after they blocked his plan to build a White House ballroom and military complex.
In a split decision, a federal appeals court ordered the Trump administration to halt construction on the $400 million White House ballroom project, ruling that Congress had not approved the work. The judges concluded that the president lacks unilateral authority to demolish and replace the East Wing with the proposed 90,000-square-foot ballroom.
Responding on Truth Social, Trump attacked the court’s reasoning and insisted that presidents have broad power to renovate, improve and secure the White House without first seeking congressional authorization, arguing that the office is filled by someone 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 described the ruling as a national security concern, saying the decision stopped a project that he said was already largely constructed and funded.
Before the court intervened, Trump posted an aerial image of construction activity at the White House East Wing and said the project was still on budget and running ahead of schedule.
In a Truth Social post on Tuesday, Trump said the military complex being built would feature a drone port. He added that the structure could not yet be seen in the photo because the steel had already been fabricated and was expected to be installed soon.
