After Judge Leon issued a preliminary injunction against Trump’s construction of the monstrously huge, yet tastelessly gaudy, ballroom, Trump took to the tube to explain that the judge’s allowance of construction limited to national security meant he could build anything he wanted.

Carving out a narrow exception, Judge Leon wrote in his order that “actions strictly necessary to ensure the safety and security of the White House” could continue, to prevent any risks from an open work site next to the president’s residence.

The problem, as Judge Leon saw it, was that the White House now had a gaping hole where once the East Wing stood, and it was not unreasonable to allow construction to secure that hole. But give Trump an inch and he takes whatever he wants.

But Mr. Trump has told reporters the exception would cover vast portions of the ballroom, such as bulletproof windows or a drone-proof roof, allowing him to proceed despite the order.

“So that’s called, ‘I’m allowed to continue building as necessary,’” he said in March.

Rather than abide by the injunction, Trump changed the messaging to manufacture an excuse to continue building the ballroom.

Since Judge Leon’s order, Mr. Trump and his staff have shifted their messaging about the project’s purpose, insisting that the more critical reason for the renovation is the construction of a sprawling new bunker below ground. Mr. Trump told reporters that the ballroom would merely be a “shed” placed atop the military complex.

No longer was Trump building a massive and grossly inappropriate ballroom, but a bunker to go with his mentality with a ballroom on top. And since the ballroom had bulletproof windows and a drone-proof roof, wasn’t that national security too?

“The upgrades to the East Wing are not cosmetic,” a Thursday filing said. “Instead, they involve the use of missile-resistant steel columns, beams, drone-proof roofing materials and bullet, ballistic and blast proof glass windows. They also include the installation of bomb shelters, hospital and medical facilities, protective partitioning, and top-secret military installations.”

At least they used to be top secret, but few secrets survive Trump’s disinhibited mouth. Consequently, the National Trust for Historic Preservation sought “clarification” from the court as to whether his attempt to enable Trump to secure the White House after wreaking havoc allowed him to build whatever he wanted. Judge Leon said no.

In recognition of the national security and presidential security concerns raised by the ongoing construction project, I excluded from the scope of the injunction “actions strictly necessary to ensure the safety and security of the White House and its grounds, including the ballroom construction site, and provide for the personal safety of the President and his staff.” Defendants now seek to tum this exception on its head and unreasonably insist that the entire ballroom project may proceed. Based on the record before me, I cannot possibly agree…”

Or as Judge Leon put it more emphatically, including his unfortunate use of exclamation marks, Trump’s attempt to circumvent the PI was “incredible.”

Defendants argue that the entire ballroom construction project, from tip to tail, falls within the safety-and-security exception and therefore may proceed unabated. That is neither a reasonable nor a correct reading of my Order! My Order preliminarily enjoined Defendants (excluding the President) from “taking any action in furtherance of the physical development of the proposed ballroom.” Prelim. Inj. Order at 2. The accompanying opinion stated that “the ballroom construction project must stop until Congress authorizes its completion.” Mem. Op. at 1 (emphasis added). It is, to say the least, incredible, if not disingenuous, that Defendants now argue that my Order does not stop ballroom construction because of the safety-and-security exception!

That’s what you get for trying to be nice to Trump, who repaid “Trump-hating” Judge Leon’s reasonableness with Trumpian distortion.

National security is not a blank check to proceed with otherwise unlawful activity.

To everyone’s shock and dismay, Trump did not take the ruling well.

𝗗𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗱 𝗝. 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝗺𝗽 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝘁𝗵 𝗦𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗣𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝟬𝟯:𝟯𝟳 𝗣𝗠 𝗘𝗦𝗧 𝟬𝟰.𝟭𝟲.𝟮𝟲

The person who filed the meritless and lawless suit on the desperately needed White House Ballroom, being built as a GIFT to America (without Tax Dollars!), a woman walking her dog,…

— Commentary Donald J. Trump Posts From Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) April 16, 2026

Why House Speaker Mike Johnson, who has never found a Trump utterance anything less than gospel, doesn’t use his majority in Congress to ratify Trump’s bastardization of the White House is unclear. Maybe the votes aren’t there. Maybe Trump doesn’t want to acknowledge that he isn’t all powerful and needs the approval of Congress to ruin an historic structure. Who knows?

What is clear is that Trump is merely the steward of the White House, not its owner with the authority to do with it whatever he pleases. The tacky gold doodads on the walls of the Oval can be removed and sold for scrap on eBay, but the ballroom scarring the White House won’t be so easily removed.