Last week, on an emergency basis, Trump asked the Supreme Court to rescue the centerpiece of his ‘capital improvement campaign.’ Trump now calls his ballroom—a 90,000 ft.2 gilded party palace where donors in haute couture can eat wagyu beef and dance the night away—an “ urgent matter of national security .” Trump’s legal team was responding to a lower court’s stop-work order on the ballroom. An appellate panel ruled that presidents do not own the nation’s capital, or the White House, but rather are entrusted as temporary custodians. As such, they lack the unilateral authority to destroy, raze or replace core national structures without explicit approval from Congress. “The White House is the People’s House,” the majority wrote , “and under the Constitution’s Property Clause, Congress exercises plenary control over the building and its surrounding land.” Astute readers will note that ‘Congress’ is not ‘the president.’ The appellate panel went on : “The White House is owned by the ...
