A divided Supreme Court on Monday allowed the White House to continue construction on a $400 million ballroom project as lawsuits play out, a win for President Donald Trump as he flexes unprecedented executive power and remakes the capital in his image.

Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, “I am pleased to report that the United States Supreme Court has just ruled in favor of the Ballroom/Military Complex being built without any further contingency, doubt, or threat.”

The apparent 5-4 decision replaces a temporary order issued earlier this month, shortly before a court-ordered halt would have gone into effect.

That temporary order was signed by Chief Justice John Roberts, assigned to handle appeals from the capital. But he publicly disagreed with the latest decision, writing a strong dissent that referenced the nation’s history and said the project is likely unlawful because it hasn’t been approved by Congress.

“Today’s decision is no victory for the separation of powers.” Roberts wrote. The court’s three liberal-leaning justices agreed.

The majority, on the other hand, found the National Trust for Historic Preservation likely did not have the legal right to challenge the project.

The unsigned order pointed to government arguments that the ballroom would address national security concerns by shielding a planned underground military installation and offering a more secure structure for large events than the tents currently used.

By contrast, “the only harm the Trust claims is the offense one of its members will suffer from having to view a structure of the ‘scale,’ ‘height,’ and ‘massing’ the government intends,” it states.

  • spacegoat@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    1
    ·
    52 minutes ago

    Demarcate it from the White House and turn it into a prison zoo to hold the fascists. You can fling poo at them

  • timbuck2themoon@sh.itjust.works
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    3
    ·
    7 hours ago

    If we Americans had any sense we’d see this pedo spending all this money on this while living expenses go up and up and kick out anyone even slightly associated with him.

  • DagwoodIII@piefed.social
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    46
    ·
    1 day ago

    Mel Brooks did an absurdist spy show back in the 1960s. Austin Powers owes a lot to ‘Get Smart.’ The show had ridiculous gimmicks like The Cone Of Silence, designed to prevent anyone from hearing conversations, including the participants. There were rotary dial shoe phones.

    Never once did the comedy genius Mel Brooks come up with something as ridiculous as a combination ballroom/military complex.

    • CIA_chatbot@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      49
      ·
      1 day ago

      But Hitler did, the Nazis literally built the bunker under a giant ballroom project. Wonder where old orange douche canoe got the idea.

      • 4am@lemmy.zip
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        21
        ·
        21 hours ago

        Ugh, you libs are all the same. Just because he’s invading other countries and rounding up minorities and silencing press and trying to persecute his political enemies and threatening citizens for their political views and he’s renaming everything after him while tearing down the things that made our nation good and building a bunker under a ballroom and appointing people who use Nazi rhetoric from official US Twitter accounts and in speeches and talking like we already own the whole world and they’re all being TDS when the don’t behave in such a way doesn’t mean he’s a Nazi!

        • obvs@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          8
          ·
          21 hours ago

          Godwin’s Law literally gave cover to Nazis when people were trying to point them out.

            • obvs@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              2
              ·
              10 hours ago

              Sure.

              But I remember in the 1990s being one of the people who was calling theses same people Nazis.

              It feels like Godwin owes the world an apology, because it sure would have been good to get to call those people out and not have everyone say they lost the argument, since it turns out that they literally were Nazis.

              • DagwoodIII@piefed.social
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                1
                arrow-down
                1
                ·
                8 hours ago

                Nope.

                It isn’t like Trump was hiding anything.

                People saw Trump for what he was and gleefully voted for him twice.

                Don’t try to point a finger at anyone except his voters.

                • obvs@lemmy.world
                  link
                  fedilink
                  arrow-up
                  1
                  ·
                  2 hours ago

                  Except he tried to falsify vote totals in 2020, and we know this for a fact.

                  And he tried to overthrow the government in 2021, and we all literally saw this on television.

                  And he’s trying to falsify vote totals in 2026.

                  And people are pretending that it’s perfectly reasonable to know all of those things and to still claim that we know with certainty that in 2024 he just sat by and didn’t try to do anything to falsify the data.

                  In the middle of multiple documented instances of him doing so.

    • Drusas@fedia.io
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      19
      ·
      1 day ago

      I didn’t realize that was by Mel Brooks (I was very young when I watched it). Makes sense in hindsight. I loved that show as a kid.

    • xenomor@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      13
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      22 hours ago

      I’m not kidding when I say, I’m not voting for a Democrat for president that doesn’t have teardown and prosecute policies in their campaign platform. There are more important issues, but these are the easy things. If a candidate can’t get these right, they cannot be trusted with the more complex issues.

      • Triumph@fedia.io
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        10
        ·
        21 hours ago

        I’m not sure there are more important issues. Teardown and prosecute are prerequisites for anything else.

        • Bustedknuckles@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          3
          ·
          20 hours ago

          I agree with this. Any candidate needs the moral clarity to declare that trump is not who we are and not who we will be. That we’re serious about scrubbing out his stain

    • BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      23
      ·
      1 day ago

      And to the Trump reimbursement list. Demolition and rebuilding costs will be coming out of his end, and he will reimburse the taxpayers for what he spent. Same with all of his nonsense, like the reflecting pool, etc. He should also have to pay for the Iran War.

  • Drusas@fedia.io
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    12
    ·
    1 day ago

    Oh, it’s a military complex now. Sure will be interesting to learn everything they’re building into this “ballroom”.

  • CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    6
    ·
    23 hours ago

    Soooo fuckin’ stoopid.

    The next Democratic admin should completely revamp it and point out they are doing it legally.

    • Zaktor@sopuli.xyz
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      9
      ·
      19 hours ago

      No, they should tear it down immediately. Don’t pretend like an authoritarian monument needs proper review before its destruction. They can take their time and submit plans for the rebuild, but the ballroom needs to come down without pussy footing around giving the Court time to decide that now it’s not ok.

      The only better result would be letting them say no before giving them the finger and doing it anyway because their whole lot is corrupt and illegitimate.

    • Ohmmy@lemmy.dbzer0.com
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      14
      ·
      22 hours ago

      What makes you think there will be a next democratic admin? Fascists don’t build bunkers and systems of authoritarian entrenchment just to leave.