Court halts Trump's USD 400 million White House ballroom construction

A federal judge has blocked US President Donald Trump from continuing construction of his USD 400 million grand ballroom on the site of the former East Wing of the White House until Congress approves.

This was reported by CNN.

"The President of the United States is the manager of the White House for future generations of first families. But he does not own it!" said Judge Richard Leon, appointed by former President George W. Bush.

He said he was delaying the implementation of his decision for two weeks so that the government could appeal. But he warned that any above-ground construction in the next 14 days that does not comply with his decision risks being demolished depending on the outcome of the case.

The Trump administration immediately told the judge it would appeal.

In his ruling, Judge Leon concluded that the problem was that President Trump had not received legislative approval for the project, which he said was required by federal law.

"Until Congress approves this project through legislative authorization, construction must stop!" he wrote.

In his ruling against Trump, Leon also noted that the President improperly invoked a federal law that gives presidents the authority to use Congressional funds, including for "care, maintenance, repair," and "refurbishment" of the White House, to justify his decision to single-handedly begin construction.

This law, the Judge said, does not allow for "the wholesale demolition of entire buildings and the construction of new ones."

Trump personally participated in the development of the details of the ballroom, from the floor plans to the choice of marble:

"I'm so busy that I don't have time for this, but - I'm fighting wars and doing other things, but this is very important, because this is going to be with us for a long time. I think it's going to be the best ballroom in the world," he told reporters aboard Air Force One on March 29.

The President posted on social media immediately after the Judge's decision, calling the historical heritage protection group that filed the lawsuit "a bunch of radical left-wing nutcases." He generally said that the lawsuit "doesn't make much sense, does it?"

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, the White House previously published a rendering of the ballroom design.