April 2 (UPI) — The National Capital Planning Commission voted Thursday to approve President Donald Trump’s plans for a White House ballroom in the now-demolished East Wing.
Most of the 12-person commission voted in favor of the plans and there were several “present” votes. The only no came from Phil Mendelson, chair of the Council of the District of Columbia.
Before the vote, Mendelson said he felt the ballroom was too large.
“I don’t think we should be looking at the White House piecemeal,” The Hill reported he told the board. “Today is the ballroom. Tomorrow, it could be some modifications to — I guess, it’s the colonnade between the main building and the West Wing.”
He added, “The day after that, it could be some addition to the West Wing. We should be looking at all of this at one time and not piecemeal.”
The commission is led by Will Scharf, a White House staff secretary appointed by Trump. James Blair and Stuart Levenbach, also Trump appointees, are on the commission. The group met on March 5 to evaluate the plans and review the more than 35,000 public comments, which are mostly negative.
Some called the project “appalling,” a “monstrosity” and “vulgar,” NBC News reported.
The commission’s vote was on the aesthetics and architecture of the project, USA Today reported.
The East Wing was torn down in October without any input outside of the White House after Trump had said that his plans wouldn’t “interfere with the current building.”
The $400 million ballroom suffered a setback on Tuesday when a federal judge blocked the construction of the building, saying Trump doesn’t have the authority.
“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!” U.S. District Judge Richard Leon wrote in the ruling. The Trump administration immediately filed for an appeal.
The commission’s vote can’t override the ruling.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation had sued the National Park Service to stop the project. Leon said the project “must stop until Congress authorizes its completion.”
Leon also said 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.”
After the ruling, Trump complained on Truth Social.
“The National Trust for Historic Preservation sues me for a Ballroom that is under budget, ahead of schedule, being built at no cost to the Taxpayer, and will be the finest Building of its kind anywhere in the World,” he said.
He later said Leon was wrong in his ruling: “In the Ballroom case, the Judge said we have to get Congressional approval. He is WRONG! Congressional approval has never been given on anything, in these circumstances, big or small, having to do with construction at the White House. In this case, even less so, because the Ballroom is being built with Private Donations, no Federal Taxpayer Money! President DONALD J. TRUMP.”
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