Donald Trump has warned that not even the Supreme Court will be able to halt construction of his ballroom project because he built it with indestructible concrete that can’t be taken down.
America’s highest court is expected to rule on Friday whether the project should go ahead, after a federal judge declared this month the president did not have the authority to unilaterally demolish parts of the White House without approval and funding from Congress.
But buried in a court filing from the administration is an extraordinary revelation: that the ever-expanding project—which now forms part of an underground military complex complete with bomb shelters—was deliberately built with material used in nuclear power plants that would be “virtually impossible to deconstruct.”
“Quite frankly, if the building were tragically ordered to be taken down, or even altered, by the court, there would be no way to do so,” said Solicitor General John Sauer.
The court filing highlights how much secret work has taken place since Trump tore down the East Wing last year to make way for his ballroom, a vanity project Americans did not vote for, and most polls say they do not want.
As the U.S. national debt topped a record $40 trillion this week, Trump took reporters on an impromptu tour to show off the progress he’s made, boasting about how special guests would soon be able to enjoy cocktails on the South Lawn before heading into the grand ballroom, which he said is now “so much a military component, with the drones and the bomb shelters and everything else that we have in there.”
According to the court filing, the ballroom project is now part of an “integrated” complex that could not be separated from the event space itself.
This is pertinent because the federal judge’s ruling this month halted work on the “above-ground” construction, but the administration argues that the project “should not be enjoined”.
It also says that any attempt to halt construction at all could threaten the safety of a president who has already had numerous assassination attempts on his life.
“The materials used, both in concrete and steel (and even glass), are meant to stop bombs, rockets, missiles, and even nuclear blasts,” the filing says.
“It is, in a very large way, a ‘safe room’ for the Presidency and the continuity of government. The concrete, for example, is “the hardest and strongest concrete there is, the type used in nuclear power plants—it is impermeable, and virtually impossible to deconstruct.”
The Supreme Court faces a deadline on Friday to decide whether construction of the $400 million ballroom should continue while legal challenges proceed.
But the administration’s filing paves the way for Trump to attempt to defy the court by arguing that the project simply can’t be stopped.
“That line has long since been crossed,” said Sauer.
However, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which filed the initial lawsuit to thwart the ballroom, said the administration had “no unilateral legal authority—constitutional, statutory, or otherwise” to build the ballroom without congressional approval.
“They are working around the clock in an attempt to outrace judicial review,” said trust President Brent Leggs.
“Each court that has reviewed this case has agreed with the National Trust. We hope the Supreme Court will uphold the rule of law by stopping this illegal project.”
