Washington — The National Trust for Historic Preservation in the U.S. has filed the first major lawsuit against President Trump and his administration in an effort to block construction of his planned ballroom on the grounds of the White House. The nonprofit, with a stated mission of stewarding and revitalizing historic sites, argued in a complaint filed in federal court in Washington on Friday that no president is allowed to tear down parts of the White House “without any review whatsoever,” or construct a ballroom on public property “without giving the public an opportunity to weigh in.” The Washington Post was first to report the lawsuit.”No president is legally allowed to tear down portions of the White House without any review whatsoever — not President Trump, not President Biden, not anyone else,” the complaint said. “And no president is legally allowed to construct a ballroom on public property without giving the public the opportunity to weigh in. President Trump’s efforts to do so should be immediately halted, and work on the ballroom project should be paused until the defendants complete the required reviews — reviews that should have taken place before the defendants demolished the East Wing, and before they began construction of the ballroom — and secure the necessary approvals.” The Trust is represented by Greg Craig, a former White House attorney for Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. Defendants in the suit include the president, the National Park Service, the Department of the Interior, the General Services Administration and their respective leaders. Mr. Trump initially said the project wouldn’t interfere with the current building and would be “near it but not touching it.” But much of the East Wing was demolished to be renovated and make way for the project, which the White House has said will be funded by private donors. The White House argued this fall that it didn’t need approval to demolish the East Wing, arguing that doing so is distinct from new construction. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters in October that the president doesn’t need approval for demolition — only for “vertical construction” — citing a previous legal opinion from the National Capital Planning Commission.”President Trump has full legal authority to modernize, renovate, and beautify the White House — just like all of his predecessors did,” White House spokesman Davis Ingle said in a statement Friday. The National Trust for Historic Preservation said it wrote to the National Park Service, the National Capital Planning Commission and the Commission of Fine Arts in October, urging “the cessation of demolition and the initiation of the review of procedures for the plans for the ballroom project,” but received no response. The nonprofit says the defendants were supposed to submit those plans to the National Capital Planning Commission, the Commission of Fine Arts and Congress prior to demolition and construction. “Yet it appears the site preparation and preliminary construction of the proposed new ballroom is proceeding without any review by either commission or by Congress, and without the necessary approvals,” the suit continues. “By evading this required review, the defendants are depriving the public of its right to be informed and its opportunity to comment on the defendants’ proposed plans for the ballroom project.”
