A federal judge certainly didn’t mince words about how he really felt about one of the Justice Department’s claims about the president. donald trumpThe White House ballroom project, valued at $400 million.

The East Wing facade of the White House was demolished by work crews on October 20, 2025 in Washington, DC.
The East Wing facade of the White House was demolished by work crews on October 20, 2025 in Washington, DC.

Kevin Dietsch via Getty Images

At a hearing in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon seemed generally unimpressed by arguments made by Justice Department lawyers that Trump had the legal authority to demolish the entire East Wing of the White House to erect your cartoonishly large event space without the approval of Congress, CNN reports.

But there was an argument so absurd that the judge could not help but denounce it.

Justice Department lawyers argued that federal law already authorizes the president to make “alterations” and “improvements” to the White House “as determined by the president,” and then had the nerve to characterize Trump’s ballroom project as simply an “alteration.”

León, who was appointed by President George W. Bush, told Justice Department lawyers that calling Trump’s extreme White House makeover “a disruption…requires a brazen interpretation of vocabulary laws.”

A vision of the small “reform” of the White House in December.
A vision of the small “reform” of the White House in December.

Bloomberg via Getty Images

Leon was also quite upset when a Justice Department lawyer compared Trump’s expensive vanity project to previous projects in national parks. washington mail information.

León rejected the comparison, saying that the White House “is a special place.”

“This is an iconic symbol of this nation,” León added, noting that Trump is an “administrator” of the White House, and not its owner.

The case reached the D.C. District Court after the U.S. National Trust for Historic Preservation (a nonprofit organization that oversees the preservation of historic structures) asked León to issue a temporary injunction to halt construction until congressional approval was granted.

The judge said he would make his decision by the end of March, and the White House said it wants to begin construction of the above-ground ballroom in April, the Post notes.

“It would have been a hell of a lot easier by any standard to have just gone to Congress to get the authority to do it,” León said at one point during the hearing as he chastised the government for its “changing theories and dynamics,” according to CNN.

León’s comments about the Justice Department providing “shifting” justifications for the project make a lot more sense considering that just last month, department lawyers said in a court filing that the ballroom has “national security implications” and that they will appeal any adverse decision.