President Donald Trump is throwing another tantrum over his White House pet project.
Trump, 80, unleashed an error-riddled Truth Social rant taking aim at The National Trust for Historic Preservation for suing to stop the construction of his 90,000-square-foot, $400 million vanity project that he has now rebranded as a “military complex.”
“These are the TREASONISTS that brought the suit against the Military Complex,” Trump’s 579-word diatribe began. “They revealed Top Military Secrets!”
He continued, “They are very bad for our Country. They stop many projects that are worthy, and hurt many others. In this case, they are trying to stop one that is vital to our National Security, and the Safety of all Presidents of the United States, both current and future, their families, staff, and Cabinet members.”
The group filed a lawsuit in December to stop the construction of the White House ballroom. Just last week, an appellate court upheld an injunction the group had earlier won and ordered a work stoppage on the sprawling project, sending Trump into a tailspin.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation was created through legislation signed by former President Harry Truman in 1949. Congress stopped funding the organization in 2005 as part of a plan to move it toward self-sufficiency. It now operates as a private nonprofit.
Trump said in his post that the military asked the group not to file a lawsuit “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,” he posted late Friday night. “But this did not deter them because they suffer from Trump Derangement Syndrome, commonly referred to as TDS, as noted by Democrat Senator John Fetterman, of Pennsylvania.”
Trump also singled out Carol Quillen, who recently retired as president of the National Trust, falsely claiming that she was dismissed as president of Davidson College. In fact, the college hailed her when she resigned after 11 years of service.
The president also mischaracterized the lawsuit to make it sound like Quillen was suing because the ballroom’s construction would get in the way of her dog walking.
In reality, the National Trust built legal standing for its case partly on the personal experience of a different member, Alison Hoagland, who said in a declaration that she lives close to the White House and gives walking tours about Washington’s historic architecture.
Hoagland claimed that she would suffer personal and professional injuries if a ballroom were to be constructed on the site of the now-demolished East Wing.
But Trump did accurately note that Quillen’s name “is not even mentioned as a plaintiff in the case.”
“It is this kind of gross and flagrant abuse of our Courts that is exactly why Americans are losing faith in our System of Justice,” he raged. “It is so bad for our Country!”
The National Trust did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Trump’s post.
On Friday, after the Trump administration filed an emergency appeal asking the Supreme Court to allow construction of the ballroom, the group pointed out that every court that has reviewed the project has ruled its construction unlawful.
“The administration’s transparent efforts to evade the rule of law, frustrate judicial review, and limit the availability of meaningful relief in the courts must stop here. The Supreme Court should deny the Administration’s demand that it be allowed to continue Ballroom construction while it appeals,” it said in a statement.
