Reuters reports this.
As is well known, Trump demolished the historic East Wing of the White House last year to make room for a planned ballroom.
However, on Friday, August 7, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in Washington, D.C., upheld the preliminary injunction in a 2-to-1 ruling.
“Every president is merely a temporary occupant of the White House, not its owner, and cannot radically alter it without congressional approval. The decision on whether to build a massive ballroom must be made by Congress, and this is not a matter the executive branch can decide on its own,” the court stated.
This injunction was sought by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which filed a lawsuit last year after the Trump administration demolished the East Wing and began construction of the ballroom.
The appeals court stayed the enforcement of its ruling for two weeks, giving the administration an opportunity to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The cost of the ballroom has steadily risen—from $200 million to Trump’s latest estimate of $400 million. At first, Trump claimed that the project “would not interfere with the existing building,” but then demolished the entire East Wing.
On April 1, a U.S. court ordered a halt to construction of the ballroom, but a few days later, the federal planning commission approved Trump’s plans, stating that the federal court’s decision to halt construction did not affect the review process.
