President Donald Trump could win the legal fight over his planned White House ballroom, say two legal experts who believe the U.S.the Supreme Court could end the case without weighing in on the underlying constitutional issue.In a lengthy social media post Friday, Trump vowed to take the fight over his White House ballroom to the Supreme Court after the D.C.
Circuit upheld a lower court order blocking above-ground construction.In a 2-1 decision, the appeals court ruled that the project cannot move forward without Congressional approval.Trump pointed to the dissent written by Judge Neomi Rao, appointed by Trump in his first term, as grounds for appealing the decision to Supreme Court.
Rao argued that the plantiffs, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, lack legal standing in the case.The National Trust for Historic Preservation built its case for legal standing around Alison Hoagland, a member who lives near the White House and regularly visits President’s Park.Hoagland said she visits the area about once a month and argued that the proposed ballroom’s size and design would diminish her enjoyment of the area by overshadowing the White House and weakening its aesthetic.TRUMP SAYS WHITE HOUSE BALLROOM RULING JEOPARDIZES LIVES OF FUTURE PRESIDENTS, VOWS SUPREME COURT APPEALPresident Donald Trump has overseen ongoing construction of the underground military fortress that is going to be below the $400 million privately funded East Wing ballroom.
(Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)But according to Rao, the National Trust did not establish the kind of injury necessary to invoke the courts’ authority to block the project."The district court elevated the aesthetic displeasure of a single passerby over the government’s security interests in the ballroom and the security risks of leaving an open construction site at the President’s home and office," Rao wrote.Former Justice Department attorney Abhishek Kambli agreed, telling Fox News Digital the National Trust...