White House ballroom vanity project: So now it's a matter of national security!

 

Headline: Laredo Morning Times, 12/15/2025

Darlene Superville reports for the AP:

The Trump administration said Monday in a court filing that the president’s White House ballroom construction project must continue for reasons of national security. 

The filing came in response to a lawsuit filed last Friday by the National Trust for Historic Preservation asking a federal judge to halt the project until it goes through multiple independent reviews and wins approval from Congress. 

In its filing, the administration included a declaration from the deputy director of the U.S. Secret Service saying more work on the site of the former White House East Wing is still needed to meet the agency’s “safety and security requirements.” The administration has offered to share classified details with the judge in an in-person setting without the plaintiffs present.

Related posts:

December 2025

White House ballroom:  AIA architects to Shalom Baranes, "Don't do it!"  (12/13)

USA Today reminds us that Sleepy Don's pile driver anecdote was pure bullshit.  (12/12)

New photos show ongoing demolition and site preparation at site of latest Trump vanity project.  (12/10)

With Donald Trump, it's just one scam after another.  (12/7)

Quote from Shalom Baranes, Trump's new White House ballroom architect:  "My work would be impossible without my fellow immigrants".  (12/7)

Archinect News thinks Donald Trump and Shalom Baranes are a weird pairing.  (12/7)

White House ballroom price tag:  $200 million.  $300 million.  $350 million.  Do I hear $400 million?  (12/7)

Washington Business Journal editor-in-chief puzzles out why Shalom Baranes accepted White House ballroom commission.  (12/6)

Trump sez au revoir to McCrery Architects.  (12/5)

Above the law and all of those pesky building codes:  Trump tries to steamroll his way through the White House ballroom planning process.  (12/4)

White House Ballroom correction:  This is not construction; its demolition and site preparation. (12/4)

Sleepy Don sends a shot across the bow to White House ballroom architect James McCrery II (12/1)

November 2025

White House East Wing hallway will not be decorated for Christmas this year.  (11/30)

Portrait of a Sleepy and Insecure Man.  (11/30)

Compensation Chronicles:   Donald Trump ballroom design keeps getting bigger and bigger! (11/29)

White House ballroom vanity project:  Meet the Trump toadies serving on the National Capital Planning Commission.  (11/26)

Sleepy Don feuds with White House ballroom architect. (11/26)

Operations and maintenance costs for Trump's gilded ballroom will be paid for by taxpayers.  (11/25)

Why did demolition of the East Wing of White House proceed without formal review?  Ask Will Scharf, Assistant to the President and White House Staff Secretary.  (11/18)

White House Ballroom oversight gaps emerge: Let us count the ways  (Part 1:  National Capital Planning Commission).  (11/18)

That's assuming it even gets built by the end of 2028.  (11/16)

What did Donald Trump know about the demolition of the East Wing of White House and when did he know it?  (11/2)

What did Clark Construction know about the demolition of the East Wing of White House and when did they know it?.  (11/2)