White House spokesman Davis Ingle said that “President Trump has full legal authority to modernise, renovate, and beautify the White House – just like all of his predecessors did”.
The National Trust’s lawsuit said Trump never gathered public input and ignored statutes requiring consultation with the National Capital Planning Commission and the Commission of Fine Arts before the East Wing was torn down and work began on the massive ballroom.
US President Donald Trump shows NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte an artist’s impression of the new ballroom in October.Credit: AP
“Inviting comments from the American people signals respect and helps ensure a lasting legacy that befits a government of the people, by the people, for the people,” trust president and chief executive Carol Quillen said.
The preservation group asked the Washington court to order a halt to construction until federal agencies complete environmental reviews, federal commissions approve the plans and Congress authorises the project.
It argued no more work should be done until administration officials “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.”
Trump has already bypassed the federal government’s usual building practices and historical reviews with the East Wing demolition. He recently added another architectural firm to the project.
The East Wing of the White House is demolished in October.Credit: Bloomberg
Trump has long said a White House ballroom is overdue, complaining that events were held outside under a tent because the East Room and the State Dining Room could not accommodate bigger crowds. Trump, among other complaints, said guests got their feet wet if it rained during such events.
The White House is expected to submit plans for Trump’s new ballroom to a federal planning commission before the year ends, about three months after construction began.
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Will Scharf, who was named by Trump as chairman of the National Capital Planning Commission, said at the panel’s monthly meeting last week that he was told by colleagues at the White House that the long-awaited plans would be filed in December.
“Once plans are submitted, that’s really when the role of this commission and its professional staff, will begin,” said Scharf, who also is one of the Republican president’s top White House aides.
He said the review process would happen at a “normal and deliberative pace”.
Reuters, AP
