Trump Ballroom Blocked by Federal Judge...Permanently

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3:02Ben Meiselas:This is really big news, folks. A federal judge in Washington, D.C., has ordered the Trump regime to halt construction of Trump's $400 million White House ballroom, ruling that the project cannot move forward unless it gets congressional approval. The federal judge who issued this order moments ago is Judge Richard Leon. He is a Republican appointed judge. He was appointed by George W. Bush back in 2002. Let's dig into this order by this Republican appointed judge blocking Donald Trump's ballroom unless it gets congressional approval. Folks, hide that ketchup because Donald Trump's going to start throwing things against the wall.

3:51Ben Meiselas:Let's dig into this 35 page order. It states as follows. The president of the United States is the steward of the White House for future generations of first families. He is not, however, the owner, exclamation point. President Trump, the president, claims that Congress has given him authority in existing statutes to construct his East Wing ballroom project and to do it with private funds. The plaintiff, the National Trust for Historic Preservation in the United States, claims the president has no such authority under existing statutes and that a preliminary injunction is necessary to avoid irreparable harm.

4:34Ben Meiselas:I have concluded that the National Trust is likely to succeed on the merits because no statute comes close to giving the president the authority he claims to have. As such, I must therefore grant the National Trust motion for a preliminary injunction and the ballroom construction project must stop immediately until Congress authorizes its completion. so order. Now I'll go through some of the facts and legal reasoning here, but I think it's important for you to remember as well that previously this federal judge had denied the motion for preliminary injunction because the judge said that the National Trust did not cite the appropriate law.

5:23Ben Meiselas:The National Trust then amended its complaint and in its amended filing sought a preliminary injunction. And the judge says, well, now that you've invoked the correct legal authority, this is clearly ultra virus outside the scope of presidential authority, absent congressional authorization. So this time, this federal judge, again, a GOP appointed federal judge, George W. Bush appointed federal judge, grants the injunction, blocks the ballroom. So So that means ballroom construction is hereby halted. Now, Donald Trump is likely to appeal this to the Washington, D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals and take it all the way up to the Supreme Court.

6:05Ben Meiselas:But I don't believe that Donald Trump will have any likelihood of prevailing there, although you never know. Let's just get into this ruling. So it has this section called background, and it talks about some of the background on the White House, the background on presidents living in the White House. Here's what it says. I'll just give a brief summary. It says shortly after the founding, Congress passed the Residence Act of 1790, which authorized three commissioners to provide suitable buildings for the accommodation of the president. It then goes on to talk about how Congress continued to authorize and fund construction and maintenance at the White House up until the present day.

6:45Ben Meiselas:And it gives an example. For example, Congress authorized repairs to the White House after it suffered extensive damage during the War of 1812. It goes on to talk about in the late 1940s, after the discovery of major structural issues, Congress appropriated funds for the renovation, repair, and modernization of the White House, showing that Congress was the one who gave the authorization. The power of the purse is with Congress. And then it goes on to say, today, the White House remains the official residence of the president. It sits in the president's park, a federal park administered by the National Park Services in Washington, D.C.

7:25Ben Meiselas:And otherwise, in other words, you live in a park that's owned by the public. This is not your home. You are a steward of it for future generations of first families. This is not your house. The ruling then goes into the East Wing Ballroom Project by Donald Trump. And I'll give you a brief summary here. It talks about how on July 31st, 2025, the White House issued a press release announcing its plans to build a state ballroom. The press release stated the ballroom would be constructed at the site of the small, heavily changed and reconstructed East Wing and would encompass approximately 90 ,000 total square feet.

8:06Ben Meiselas:The press release also stated that Trump and other Patriot donors have generously committed to donating the funds to build the ballroom. On October 20th, 2025, without advance notice or apparent approval, Trump announced on social media that the ground had, and Trump spelled it wrong, As the judge points out, the ground had been broken on the White House grounds to build a new big, beautiful White House ballroom. It looks extra stupid when the judge actually quotes what Donald Trump is saying. The next day, Trump showed new renderings of the proposed ballroom to the press. And that goes on to say, by October 23rd, 2025, the East Wing had been demolished in its entirety.

8:49Ben Meiselas:After the demolition of the East Wing, the National Trust, a nonprofit with thousands of members who have a substantial interest in preserving and protecting historic and cultural resources in Washington, D.C., contacted various federal entities to express concerns, receiving no response. The National Trust brought this lawsuit in December 2025. Remember, we covered this lawsuit back in 2025. And remember, I was predicting that the National Trust would win. But remember, at first they lost and you were all like, but Ben, you were telling us that they were going to win. Remember my legal analysis?

9:26Ben Meiselas:I said, I know they just they haven't pled the correct causes of action yet. And then federal judge Leon said, OK, you know, here are the kind of defects in the complaint. And then the national trust, I don't know if they were watching our YouTube videos. They may have been watching our YouTube videos. They said, all right, they adjusted the causes of action just to make sure they cited the right causes of action. And that cleared the way to make this, I think, appeal proof in the judge's mind. So the judge could grant this injunction. So they go through that procedural history where the judge says, you know, at first the national trust moved for a preliminary injunction.

10:04Ben Meiselas:I denied it. They then amended it and now I'm granting it. So what the judge says is that there are three major laws under consideration, three major statutes that the national trust invokes. Number one, 3USC Section 105D, Section 105 titled Assistance and Service for the President, provides for the employment of staff members to assist the president and authorizes appropriation for expenses related to the White House administration. More relevant here, Section 105D provides there are authorized to be appropriated each fiscal year to the president such sums as may be necessary for the care, maintenance, repair, alteration, refurnishing, improvements, air conditioning, heating, and lighting, including electric power and fixtures of the executive residents at the White House.

10:59Ben Meiselas:The statute continues, sums appropriated under this subsection for expenses described in paragraph one may be expended as the president may determine, notwithstanding the provision of any other law. This statute was enacted in 1948. In other words, Congress is responsible for it. They set aside funds, but if you need more, you got to go back to Congress and ask for it. 40 USC section 8106, The statute provides that a building or structure shall not be erected on any reservation, park, or public grounds of the federal government in the District of Columbia without express authority of Congress.

11:35Ben Meiselas:This provision was originally enacted in 1912. And then 54 USC section 100 101, the National Park Service Organic Act provides that the Secretary of the Interior acting through the director of the NPS shall promote and regulate the use of the national park system by means and measures that conform to the fundamental purpose of the systems unit, which purposes to conserve the scenery, natural and historic objects and wildlife in the systems units. and to provide for the enjoyment of the scenery, natural and historic objects. Congress later reaffirmed these purposes through the 1978 amendment known as the Redwood Amendment.

12:18Ben Meiselas:So then the court goes into why the National Trust will likely win at trial to have this injunction be granted. And the court says the following. This case, in essence, is about whether the president has the authority to build a ballroom on the White House grounds with private funds without seeking authorization from Congress. The National Trust asserts that the defendant's actions were ultra vires of the statutory authority and violate the APA, meaning outside the bounds of. But why do defendants even need statutory authority in the first place? The Constitution shows why. The property clause vests Congress with complete authority over public lands.

13:02Ben Meiselas:See United States Constitution, Article 4, Section 3, Clause 2. The Congress shall have the power to dispose of and make all needful rules and regulations respecting the territory or other property belonging to the United States. That's why defendants, Trump regime, need statutory authority in the first place. It's in the damn Constitution. Congress exercises the power both as the proprietor and of a legislature over the public domain, and those powers are without limitations. This broad grant of authority extends to personal and real property rightfully belonging to the United States. The Appropriation Clause of the Constitution provides that money may be drawn from the Treasury only in consequence of appropriations made by law.

13:51Ben Meiselas:In other words, Congress has to pass a law. The district clause gives Congress legislative authority over the District of Columbia. The Constitution conferred this power on Congress in broad terms. Together, the property clause, the appropriations clause, and the district clause establish congressional primacy over federal property spending and the District of Columbia. Indeed, Trump defendant have declined to argue that they have any inherent constitutional authority to build a ballroom. So the president must identify some law that allows him to demolish the East wing and construct his plan ballroom with private funds.

14:32Ben Meiselas:For the following reasons, I conclude the national trust is likely to succeed on the merits on its ultra virus claims because no law comes close to giving the president this authority. Defendants argue that successive preliminary injunction motions are improper, but there is no per se bar. And here, change circumstances for counsel in favor considering this motion. In other words, the counsel came up with a new argument, and this argument is the right one that the judge was looking for in the first place. So for those reasons, the court says this is congressional authority, not under Donald Trump's authority.

15:13Ben Meiselas:And because Congress holds the keys to the nation's property, the president must have some statutory basis to build the ballroom 40 USC section 8106, or you take a look at three USC section 105. It's like, okay, defendants, you claim to rely on three USC 105 D one as your authority to construct a ballroom. But as the court says, let's start with this kind of statute is an authorization for appropriations. Section 105 says there are authorized to be appropriated each fiscal year to the president sums of money as may be necessary. So in other words, what do these statutes authorize the president to do?

15:57Ben Meiselas:What they authorize the president to do is the limited stuff that's in it. And if you want to alter or improve or do other things as well, you need to go back and you need to seek congressional funding and congressional laws is what the court ultimately rules. Let's take a look right here at the conclusion of this 35 page order where the court says, where does this leave us? Unfortunately for defendants, Trump, unless and until Congress blesses this project through statutory authorization, construction has to stop! But here is the good news. It's not too late for Congress to authorize the continued construction of the ballroom project.

16:42Ben Meiselas:The president may at any time go to Congress to obtain express authority to construct a ballroom and to do so with private funds. Indeed, Congress may even choose to appropriate funds itself for the ballroom or at least decide that some other funding scheme is acceptable. Either way, Congress will thereby retain its authority over the nation's property and its oversight over government spending. The national trust interest in a constitutional and lawful process will be vindicated, and the American people will benefit from the branches of government executing their constitutionally prescribed roles.

17:15Ben Meiselas:not a bad outcome, not a bad outcome that the federal judge says, so ordered judge Richard Leon. And before we go, I'm just going to show you Donald Trump talking about his ballroom right now as well. Here it is right here. Here he was on air force one talking about the ballroom. Let's play it. I think we have it automatically. I did something today. I, we just got these in from the architects. A lot of people are talking about how beautiful the ballroom for 150 years. They've wanted to build a ballroom at the White House and other presidents have wanted it. When we have dignitaries coming like President Xi of China or anybody else, we have very small rooms.

18:06They're not big enough to handle the kind of capacity that you need.

18:11Ben Meiselas:And here's another clip right here of Trump talking about the ballroom on Air Force One that has now been blocked. Let's play it. And that porch will be magnificent looking in between the columns. They no longer, we took the stairs out that were on the south side and really replaced them with these stairs. So you have an open porch and you have the closed porch under the columns overlooking the Washington Monument, the Jefferson Memorial, and the Lincoln Memorial slash monument. So that's great. This is a view of the columns as they are going to be made. They're going to be hand carved and they're beautiful.

18:54Top of the line, there'll be Corinthian, which is considered the best, most beautiful by far.

18:59Ben Meiselas:There you have it, folks. Let me know what you think. hit subscribe. Let's get to 7 million subscribers. We appreciate you as always.

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