The National Trust for Historic Preservation filed a lawsuit Friday to stop President Donald Trump's White House ballroom project.
Historic preservationists had attempted to stop the president from rapidly demolishing the White House’s East Wing for the project and asked him to wait for federal review panels and public comment, but he went ahead and tore down the annex over a week in October, and now the group charged by Congress with helping to preserve historic buildings has asked a judge to block construction, reported the Washington Post.
“No president is legally allowed to tear down portions of the White House without any review whatsoever — not President Trump, not President Joe Biden, and not anyone else,” the complaint states.
The National Trust is seeking a temporary restraining order on construction while a court reviews the complaint.
“The lawsuit is our last resort,” National Trust CEO Carol Quillen told the newspaper. “We serve the people, and the people are not being served in this process.”
The White House did not immediately respond to questions about the lawsuit, but the administration has argued that Trump has authority over White House grounds and dismissed criticism as political.
“They said, ‘Sir, this is the White House, you’re the president of the United States, you can do anything you want,’” Trump said in October.