CNN’s MAGA superstar Scott Jennings lost his cool live on CNN as the panel clashed over President Donald Trump’s controversial plans for the White House ballroom. Jennings and the panel of analysts discussed a judge’s decision to block Trump from continuing his construction of the long-awaited project. But Jennings pushed back, challenging the panel: ‘Are you guys really that mad about the ballroom? I mean honestly, there’s a giant hole in the ground. Now what are we going to do? Just leave it there?’ he continued. ‘When you get the government involving in building stuff, ask the people of California what happens when the government gets involved in building stuff. You don’t build anything. There’s a big hole,’ he added.

The staunch Trump defender was cut off by anchor Abby Phillip who suggested that Trump’s decision to knock down the historic building’s East Wing was likely to have had consequences. ‘This is like saying, “We burned down the house. So what are we going to do? Yeah, I guess we have to rebuild it,”‘ Phillip said. But the heated MAGA star pressed on and said: ‘Tone deaf? He’s building out of private contributions; there’s no tax money involved.’ ‘I think it’s fair for Americans to be upset about tearing down the East Wing,’ Phillips interjected. Ana Navarro, a strategist and commentator, piped up to discuss how the project, and other moves that the president has made, don’t appear to be addressing much of the struggles Americans are currently facing. ‘I think it has tremendous historical value that nobody even bothered to save anywhere,’ Navarro said. ‘I am [expletive] at what he’s done to Jackie Kennedy’s garden — is it the thing I’m most [expletive] off about? No, I care a lot more about the people that have gotten killed in the streets of Minneapolis, but I think it’s pretty outrageous that he is acting like a king.’

But Jennings, who appeared frustrated, brought his point back and said: ‘Should they leave it? We leave a hole in the ground.’ The heated discussion comes after US District Court Judge Richard J Leon blocked Trump from continuing construction on the $400 million ballroom project. Leon granted a preservationist group’s request for a preliminary injunction that temporarily halts Trump’s White House ballroom project. The Washington judge said that the National Trust for Historic Preservation is likely to succeed on the merits of its claims because ‘no statute comes close to giving the President the authority he claims to have.’ ‘The President of the United States is the steward of the White House for future generations of First Families. He is not, however, the owner,’ Leon wrote. The White House responded by speedily filing a notice to appeal, while the President told the press at the Oval Office: ‘We built many things at the White House over the years. They don’t get congressional approval.’

It marked the first major rebuke of Trump’s White House takeover, but plans for the now demolished section of the building remain unclear should the project be blocked. The judge’s decision came two days before the National Capital Planning Commission, the agency that signs off on construction on federal property in the Washington region, is expected to approve the addition. Stephen Staudigl, a spokesperson for the commission, said the judge’s ruling does not affect the schedule for Thursday. Carol Quillen, president and CEO of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, said: ‘We are pleased with Judge Leon’s ruling today to order a halt to any further ballroom construction until the Administration complies with the law and obtains express authorization to go forward.’ Quillen said that the order ‘is a win for the American people,’ as she described the project as something that ‘forever impacts one of the most beloved and iconic places in our nation.’ The National Trust group sued with hopes of obtaining an order to pause the project’s construction under it undergoes multiple independent reviews and has congressional approval. Leon suspended enforcement of his order for 14 days, and said he recognizes that the case ‘raises novel and weighty issues.’ He added that ‘halting an an ongoing construction project may raise logistical issues.’

The judge ruled that any construction work that’s necessary to ensure the safety and security of the White House is exempt from the scope of the injunction. The White House announced the project over the summer, and by late October he had demolished the East Wing for the 90,000-square-foot ballroom- which he said would fit 999 people. Trump proceeded with the project before seeking input from the National Capital Planning Commission and another oversight entity, the Commission of Fine Arts. Trump has stocked both commissions with allies. The trust sued in December. On February 26, Leon rejected the preservationist group’s initial bid to temporarily halt the ballroom’s construction, noting that the privately funded group had based its challenge on a ‘ragtag group’ of legal theories. Leon suggested the group amend their points into a lawsuit.

The judge described the White House as an ‘iconic symbol of this nation’ during a March 17 hearing. Government attorneys argued that previous presidents have not required congressional approval and said: ‘Many of those projects were highly controversial in their time yet have since become accepted — even beloved — parts of the White House.’ ‘This clearly is not how Congress and former Presidents have managed the White House for centuries, and this Court will not be the first to hold that Congress has ceded its powers in such a significant fashion,’ Leon wrote. The Daily Mail has reached out to the White House for comment.