The Justice Department is pressing for the dismissal of the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s lawsuit over the planned White House ballroom, after a shooting at Saturday’s media gala, according to a court filing submitted Monday. In a motion seeking to end the case, the government argued that continuing the litigation would “greatly endanger the lives of all Presidents, current and future,” framing the dispute in the immediate aftermath of the White House attack. The filing comes as the preservation group has declined to withdraw its complaint.
The National Trust’s lawsuit, filed after the White House demolished the East Wing to make room for a ballroom, challenges the administration’s authority to proceed. The Trust argues that Trump overstepped by moving forward with the project without approval from Congress and key federal agencies. In a reply to the government, Trust attorney Gregory Craig wrote that “What Saturday’s awful event does not change is that the Constitution and multiple federal statutes require Congress to authorize construction of a ballroom on White House grounds, and that Congress has not done so.”
The Justice Department’s Monday filing was signed by acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and submitted by Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward, the report said. The filing also focused on whether the Trust’s claims had any basis, while including language that, according to the report, reflected the style commonly associated with President Donald Trump’s written communications. The report said the first sentence of the 16-page filing questioned the Trust’s name, arguing “The National Trust for Historic Preservation’ is a beautiful name, but even their name is FAKE,” because adding “in the United States” makes it sound like a governmental agency, though the filing asserted it is not.
The report said Trump and Republicans have renewed push for the ballroom plan following the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, with arguments that the event demonstrated the need for a secure facility for large gatherings. The Justice Department asked the Trust to withdraw its complaint, but the Trust declined, the report said.
When asked about the court filing, the White House did not deny that Trump had a role in drafting or editing the Justice Department’s arguments, the report said. White House spokesman Davis Ingle said in a statement that “President Trump is intimately involved in the ongoing disgraceful lawsuit brought by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and is working diligently with his team of lawyers to bring this charade to an end.”
The report said the Justice Department did not respond to a message seeking comment. It also said Trump shared the filing on social media Tuesday morning, posting screenshots of each of the 16 pages without comment. In the filing, the Justice Department described the Trust as “very bad for our Country,” language the report said Trump repeatedly uses, and it accused the Trust of having “Trump Derangement Syndrome, commonly referred to as TDS,” a phrase the report linked to Trump’s practice of characterizing critics.
The filing also described Craig, a former White House counsel, as “the lawyer for Barack Hussein Obama,” the report said. The report said the Justice Department’s arguments further contended that “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,” and said the filing again referred to “TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME.”
The case is one of several legal and political developments described alongside the filing, the report said, including the Justice Department’s actions in Trump’s second term and its pursuit of investigations involving Trump’s perceived enemies. ___ Associated Press writer Alanna Durkin Richer contributed to this report.