You couldn’t ask for a more on-the-nose political metaphor than Donald Trump demolishing part of the White House. Previous presidents have taken care to carefully preserve and improve one of the most famous and iconic buildings in the world. Not Trump, who decided that in a time of economic misery, a gaudy ballroom is exactly what the nation craves.
On top of that, Trump just calling in the wrecking crew and telling them to go nuts was turbo illegal. A recent court decision underlined that the sitting president acts as a steward of the White House, not its owner. Congress holds ultimate authority over significant changes to federal property, especially permanent structures that could last for generations.
Did Trump seek authorization from Congress? No, he did not. An injunction has now been issued by U.S. District Judge Richard Leon preventing further work. Trump’s lawyers are frantically appealing.
Even for Trump boosters, this is a hard one to defend. But Scott Jennings gave it a good go, taking to CNN to say “he can’t understand why people are so angry about a ballroom”. Stephen King, no stranger to putting the boot into MAGA, had a blunt response:
Because he didn't get congressional approval is why. Are you MAGA dumb or just dumb? https://t.co/5A8X8WD4Tw
— Stephen King (@StephenKing) April 2, 2026
“Because he didn’t get congressional approval is why. Are you MAGA dumb or just dumb?”
I’m going to go with “just dumb” in this instance, as it should be apparent to anyone with a few functioning brain cells why Americans might take issue with an idiot president tearing down an iconic national symbol to build a ridiculous ballroom.
An order to rebuild and restore?
At this point it’s unclear what’s going to happen next. Part of the White House is now in ruins, and no construction is taking place as per the injunction. Trump’s lawyers are making the (somewhat flimsy) argument that, as the ballroom supposedly doesn’t use any taxpayer money, he doesn’t need Congressional approval.
This argument didn’t find much favor with Judge Leon, who said “Unless and until Congress blesses this project through statutory authorization, construction has to stop!”
There’s also an argument that previous presidents didn’t need to seek Congressional authorization for changes they made, like Barack Obama converting a tennis court into a basketball court. However, painting some new lines and installing some portable equipment is a far cry from knocking down an entire wing of the building!
Despite everything, I suspect Trump will probably get his ballroom in the end. After all, he can just appeal the case and hope for a more MAGA-friendly appellate judge to rule in his favor. But I’m hoping for the funnier option of a judge ruling that he had no right to demolish the East Wing, and him being ordered to restore it to its exact previous appearance at his own expense.
But hey, if one president can argue he has the right to build the ballroom, a future president will also have the right to knock this monstrosity down and return the building to its former appearance. If that happens, listen for an angry whirring sound from Donald J. Trump’s presidential grave, as I’m sure that corpse will be doing some rapid spinning.
Published: Apr 2, 2026 07:36 am