WASHINGTON (USA) (ITALPRESS) – The National Trust for Historic Preservation filed a case at the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against American President Donald Trump, National Park Service and other administration officials, calling for immediate suspension of the construction of the new Ballroom at the White House.
According to the Trust, the project went ahead without the necessary federal revision process and without the public consultation period provided by the law, despite the demolition of the east wing has already been initiated. At the center of the resort there is a structure defined by the opponents “a monument to excess”: 90 thousand square feet of surface, an estimated cost of 300 million dollars and a capacity up to 1000 guests. The renderings spread by the administration show golden interiors, large chandeliers and a gorgeous style that, according to the condoms, recalls more of a Vegas casino than the sober monumentality of the White House. Trump defended the work by claiming that a new large hall is necessary to host important state events, but the heritage protection associations speak of an irreversible detour of a national symbol.
In the text of the case, the National Trust states that no president, regardless of the name or party, is legally entitled to break down parts of the White House or build new structures on public ground without adequate revision and without allowing citizens to express themselves. The White House, underlines the appeal, is not a private property but a public institution, belonging to the American people, of which each president is only a temporary custodian. Legal action is presented as a battle of principle, aimed at reaffirming that the head of the state is also bound by the laws on the protection of heritage and administrative transparency.
But there remains a question that weighs on the whole affair: why did the National Trust not intervene before, avoiding the east wing being reduced to rubble? According to conservatives, the answer lies in the Trump administration strategy, which would have kept the plans deliberately opaque, eluding the normal public alert channels and review procedures that would have allowed preventive action. In the absence of imminent and demonstrable damage, they explain, an early appeal would have risked being rejected as purely hypothetical. When demolitions began, however, the damage has become concrete and legally contested, albeit at the price of a loss already consumed. The walls of the east wing were destroyed, leaving space for cranes and debris in one of the most symbolic places of American democracy. Even a possible victory in court could stop the future works, but not return what was destroyed.
The story thus assumes the contours of a responsibility arrived too late. The cause of the National Trust is a harsh accusation against what is described as Trump’s propensity to show and excess, but also highlights the limits of the law when rules are circumvented quickly and decisively. The House of the People, warn the condoms, has already been disfigured, and the case becomes a warning for the future: the protection of history requires vigilance before the ball from demolition hits, not after.
– Photo IPA Agency –
(ITALPRESS).
