Trump admin claims it’s now too late to undo the demolition of the East Wing

In a court filing from the Department of Justice submitted on Monday, the Trump administration has said it's too late to halt the demolition of the White House's historic East Wing, calling statements in the lawsuit submitted against the White House “moot”. Trump began demolition of the East Wing in October as part of his project to build a 90,000-sq-ft ballroom at an estimated cost of $300m before his term ends in 2029. The court filings also claim the construction's continuation is a matter of national security, but doesn't list any reasons why.

On Friday, the National Trust for Historic Preservation – a privately funded nonprofit organization – submitted a lawsuit, attempting to delay Donald Trump's destruction of the White House's East Wing. The suit says that the administration should have gotten approval from the National Capital Planning Commission, the Commission of Fine Arts and Congress before ground was broken. The Trump administration maintained in the filing that the president has the authority to modify the White House, and cited the multitude of changes made to the White House in its 200-year history. This is the first major change done to the White House since the East Wing was built in the 1940s, save for some necessary renovations during the Truman administration.

Court filings in response to lawsuit

The filing included a declaration from the deputy director of the US Secret Service claiming that more work to the East Wing is still needed to meet the agency's “safety and security requirements”.  The filing also included the fact that there are still no finalized plans for the $300m ballroom. The administration has offered to share classified details with the judge without the plaintiffs present, as long as it happens in an in-person setting. The East Wing was originally built to conceal a WWII-era bunker, meant to protect the president and their family in the event of a foreign attack.

With the lawsuit attempting to delay Trump's ballroom until it goes through design reviews, environmental assessments, public comments and congressional debate and ratification, the DOJ's court filings are claiming Trump doesn't need permission. The filings also claim that the continuation of the construction is necessary for the assurance of national security, but doesn't say why. It may be that in its current state, the East Wing cannot protect the bunker underneath. The ballroom is being privately funded, in part by a slough of donors, and partly from Trump himself.