The Trump administration's Justice Department filed a reply brief Wednesday that reads less like a legal document and more like a late-night tweet storm, accusing the National Trust for Historic Preservation of suffering from "Trump Derangement Syndrome" and declaring the proposed $400 million White House ballroom "a gift to the People of the United States."
The seven-page filing this week, signed by Associate Attorney General Stanley E. Woodward Jr., asks a federal judge to issue an indicative ruling that would dissolve an injunction currently blocking above-ground construction on the project — and it doesn't hold back.
"The 'National Trust for Historic Preservation' — which, again, is not a government agency of any type — never once denies that its lawsuit is motivated by an irrational desire to stop anything associated with President Donald J. Trump, which even Democratic elected officials have labeled as 'Trump Derangement Syndrome,' or TDS," the filing opens.
The brief even cites Sen. John Fetterman's X post, urging the Trust to "drop the TDS and build the White House ballroom," as a legal footnote.
Shooting as Legal Leverage
The filing leans heavily on the April 25 shooting at the White House Correspondents' Dinner at the Washington Hilton — where the government's own lawyer was present — to argue the injunction must go. Citing three assassination attempts against Trump in less than two years, DOJ lawyers insist the entire ballroom project is a national security necessity.
"This Project as a whole, with one venting system, one electrical system, one plumbing system, one security system... will ensure that events like the assassination attempt of Butler, PA, West Palm Beach, FL, and at the Washington Hilton on April 25th do not happen again," the brief states.
The Trust wasn't buying it. Its attorney, Gregory Craig — whom the DOJ pointedly identifies in the filing as a former White House counsel for "Barack Hussein Obama" — has already rejected the government's demand to drop the lawsuit voluntarily.
"What [the Correspondents' Dinner shooting] does not change is that the Constitution and multiple federal statutes require Congress to authorize construction of a ballroom on White House grounds, and that Congress has not done so," Craig wrote.
The DOJ filing grows increasingly combative toward the end, framing the legal dispute as one in which an unelected individual obstructs presidential security.
"Presidents — not just President Trump, but all future Presidents — should not be forced to risk the safety of themselves, their families, and their Cabinet, all because one person thinks that the Ballroom may not make her happy," the brief states.
The filing accuses the Trust of making "false claims," lobbing "meritless accusations," and being "unfamiliar with figures of speech and rhetorical devices" — all in a federal court document.
The Trust sued in December, a week after the White House finished demolishing the East Wing to make way for a ballroom Trump says would hold 999 people. Trump claims private donations fund the project, though he has since asked for $1 billion in public money is paying for a below-ground bunker and security upgrades.
A federal appeals court has allowed construction to continue, while a lower court judge has blocked above-ground work and scheduled a June 5 hearing to review the case.
The DOJ's filing asks the district court to get ahead of that hearing by signaling now that it would dissolve its injunction — a procedural move designed, the government says, "to conserve judicial resources."