Watchdog laughs at Trump's new ballroom dodge

Key Points:

• The National Trust for Historic Preservation criticized the Trump administration’s justification for building a White House ballroom, stating the 4,000-person UFC event would not have fit inside the proposed structure and that the alleged attack plot was disrupted four days prior.
• The Department of Justice charged five men with plotting an attack to kill government officials at the UFC Freedom 250 event held at the White House, which took place with full Secret Service knowledge despite the disrupted plot.
• The National Trust’s attorney emphasized that the injunction halting ballroom construction did not limit security measures for the open-air event and stressed that the President must adhere to constitutional limits on power.
• The attorney argued that the President cannot bypass Congress in authorizing construction projects like the ballroom, highlighting that congressional approval is required for such actions under the Constitution.
• This legal dispute over the ballroom is part of ongoing efforts by the Trump administration to use national security concerns to justify the construction, despite court rulings against it.