Dem
47
GOP
53
There's been some news on the White House ballroom front in the last couple of days. To start with, due to a lawsuit filed by the National Trust for Historic Preservation (NTHP), Trump was forced to "admit" that there will be a "massive complex under the ballroom," built by the U.S. military.
Were this any other president, it would be believable that the ballroom was just a cover story for the true project, namely the military complex. With Trump, however, we must take his claims with a grain of salt... or ten. First, if this really is a top secret military project, why is he talking about it openly? He should be saying as little as is possible. Second, top secret military projects take years to plan, and would receive funding from Congress. There has been no funding from Congress here, and it would be more than a little odd for a military installation to be funded by private donors.
There are at least two ways around these "difficulties," as it were. The first is to conclude that Trump is grossly overstating the military nature of the basement, so as to make the ballroom project more palatable. The second is to take a conspiratorial turn, and to guess that the underground complex IS military in nature, but not for a military purpose approved by Congress. In other words, it's where Trump will stash his insurrectionist troops the next time he tries to overturn an election. Again, very conspiratorial, and we don't buy it, but that theory is most certainly percolating on social media.
And yesterday, another complication arose. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon promised that he would issue a ruling in the suit filed by NTHP by the end of March, and he proved to be a man of his word, with a few hours to spare. In his decision, Leon ordered all construction on the White House to stop, decreeing that Trump does not have the authority to proceed, as he is the steward of the White House and not its owner. Leon said that construction cannot resume until Congress assents to the project.
Undoubtedly, the Republican members of Congress are just thrilled by this outcome. They know that the whole White House project is very, very unpopular. At the same time, they know that you cannot cross the Dear Leader. We assume they are going to encourage Trump to appeal, in hopes that there won't be a final decision until after primary season is over. Then, they can hold a vote, and choose between their two problematic options.
Certainly, at some point, something has to be done about what is now a big hole in the ground. That said, it's becoming more and more likely than not that whatever is done, will be done under the next president and not this one. We don't know if that will upset Trump or not. On one hand, he is clearly desperate to leave his "mark" on the presidency. On the other hand, all the donations for the ballroom would undoubtedly be rerouted to some PAC or some foundation, and would surely disappear into the ether, by which we mean "Trump's pockets." He tends to care more about money than anything else, so he'd probably be pretty happy with outcome #2.
Oh, and as long as we're on the general subject, U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss issued a ruling yesterday in which he said the White House's de-funding of NPR and PBS was unlawful and unenforceable, as the administration's decision was clearly made because Trump does not agree with those platforms' viewpoints. This being the case, concluded the Judge, it's a violation of the First Amendment.
Exactly what will happen next is anyone's guess. There are going to be appeals, since Trump loathes NPR and PBS. And much damage has already been done, and will continue to be done, even if Moss' ruling stands. Still, it's even more losing from a White House that promised bushels of winning. We don't know what exactly the administration's batting average is in court cases, but it can't be a whole lot better than the .047 he put up playing baseball during his senior year of high school. (Z)