Donald Trump’s Justice Department officials filed a legal brief that resembled one of the president’s Truth Social rants to argue that construction on the $400 million White House ballroom must resume.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward, and DOJ lawyer Trent McCotter submitted court documents Monday suggesting the alleged assassination attempt against Trump during Saturday’s White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner proves the vanity project is needed.
However, rather than a standard legal filing, the opening and closing of the document submitted to U.S. District Judge Richard Leon were written in the style of a lengthy social media post by Trump, complete with random capitalization, exclamation points, and phrases frequently used by the 79-year-old president. Trump even shared screenshots of the nine-page legal filings to Truth Social on Tuesday morning.
The filing begins with a Trump-esque attack on the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which filed a lawsuit to halt construction of Trump’s ballroom until it passes independent reviews, environmental assessments, and receives approval from Congress. Judge Leon granted the group a preliminary injunction last month, preventing further construction of the 90,000-square-foot ballroom unless it receives congressional approval.
“‘The National Trust for Historic Preservation’ is a beautiful name, but even their name is FAKE because when they add the words ‘in the United States’ to the National Trust for Historic Preservation, it makes it sound like a Governmental Agency, which it is not,” the court document begins.
“They are very bad for our Country. They stop many projects that are worthy, and hurt many others,” it continues. “They were asked by the United States Military not to bring this suit because of the Top Secret nature of the important facility being built. They were shown detailed plans and specifications of this knitted, unified, and cohesive structure by Top Officers and Leaders in both the Military and Secret Service. But this did not deter them because they suffer from Trump Derangement Syndrome, commonly referred to as TDS.”
The legal filing even directly lifts arguments from one of Trump’s Truth Social posts from Sunday, in which the president lamented that the lawsuit brought by a “woman walking her dog” has “no standing” to disrupt construction of the ballroom.
After the opening rant of several hundred words, the DOJ’s filing shifts into a more standard legal argument, complete with citations and conventional legal language.
By the end, the façade drops, and the document returns to reading like a rambling Truth Social post.
“If any other President had the ability, foresight, or talents necessary to build this ballroom, which will be one of the greatest, safest, and most secure structures of its kind anywhere in the World, there would never have been a lawsuit. But, because it is DONALD J. TRUMP, a highly successful real estate developer, who has abilities that others don’t, especially those who assume the Office of President, this frivolous and meritless lawsuit was filed,” the filing states.
“Again, it’s called TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME. On top of everything else, this project is a gift to our Country from President Trump, and other Donors. It is free of charge to the American Taxpayer. Who could ever object to that?”
Trump and multiple MAGA figures immediately suggested the threat to the president’s life at the WHCA event on Saturday would not have occurred if it had been held in his proposed ballroom.
The White House Correspondents’ Association dinner is a private event, and there is no guarantee it would be held at the White House ballroom in the future. The Washington Hilton ballroom, where thousands attended Saturday’s event, also has a greater capacity than Trump’s planned venue.
The Daily Beast has contacted the Department of Justice for comment.
