06/05/2026
BREAKING 🚨: DOJ argues Trump could bulldoze the Statue of Liberty and courts couldn't stop him
The Trump administration's Justice Department told a federal appeals court Friday that even if Trump illegally demolished the White House East Wing and broke ground on a $400 million ballroom without congressional approval, it's simply too late for anyone to do anything about it.
When Judge Patricia Millett asked point blank whether that logic would apply if Trump bulldozed the Statue of Liberty before anyone could sue, DOJ attorney Yaakov Roth said yes. Only Congress could intervene, he argued, and even that would have been too late from day one of demolition.
A lower court had already ruled in March that no law comes anywhere close to giving Trump the authority to build on White House grounds without congressional sign-off. That same judge found that any new construction requires legislative approval regardless of whether public or private money is used. But the appeals court allowed construction to continue while the legal fight plays out.
What the administration initially sold as a ballroom project has since been revealed in court filings to be something far larger: a sprawling underground bunker with military-grade infrastructure, including a drone-proof roof, blast-resistant glass, bomb shelters, a hospital, and top-secret military installations. The DOJ complained that the court forced them to disclose classified details, then proceeded to list all of them in the same filing.
The administration claimed the project is funded by patriotic private donors, but a watchdog report found that more than half of the 27 publicly identified donors have received new or expanded federal contracts since construction began, with 14 corporate donors seeing their government business grow by a combined $50 billion in just the first six months. Trump also asked taxpayers for $1 billion to cover White House security additions tied to the project. The Senate parliamentarian blocked that request from being included in broader legislation, and Republicans left Washington before Memorial Day without resolving it.
The appellate panel, which includes both Biden and Trump appointees, is now deciding whether to block the ballroom construction permanently.