Two Americans, Judith A. Voorhees and Charles K. Voorhees, filed a lawsuit today in federal court in Washington D.C. seeking a temporary restraining order “enjoining Defendants and any third parties from further destroying any portion of the White House.” That may sound like slamming the door after the horse has escaped from the barn, but the lawsuit recognizes that if Trump wanted to, he could tear down the entire White House and build some sort of garish South Florida monstrosity in its place, and there would be no way to stop him.
The lawsuit says that Trump broke the law. He violated the National Capital Planning Act of 1952 by failing to submit plans for his “renovation” of the White House to the National Capital Planning Commission. He violated the National Historic Preservation Act (“NHPA”) of 1966 by failing to notify or consult with the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (“ACHP”) and the D.C. State Historic Preservation Office (“SHPO”) before beginning work on the property and by failing to evaluate the effects of any proposed work on the historical property of the White House. Last, but not least, Trump bypassed “legally required oversight by the Commission of Fine Arts (“CFA”), which reviews and advises on the design and aesthetics of the exterior modifications to the White House and its grounds.”
Trump clearly broke several laws by leveling the East Wing of the White House, but he doesn’t care. The Supreme Court—six of the justices anyway—allowed him to break the law and not face any consequences, because they ruled that Trump cannot be charged with a crime for any official act he carries out as president.
Tearing down a portion of the White House is an official act. So, it doesn’t matter that Donald Trump ordered that the East Wing be torn down in favor of a privately funded monument to himself that the White House is already calling “The Donald J. Trump Ballroom.”
It wouldn’t matter if Trump decided to tear down the entire structure of the White House, which has stood, in one form or another, since the year 1800. He could do it. His press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, looking rather pleased with herself, in answering a question from a reporter, said today that Trump can tear down anything he wants, including the White House or the Jefferson Memorial, because permission is required from the National Capital Planning Commission “only for vertical construction,” but not for demolition.
But of course, she is wrong about that. Trump can tear down any federal structure he wants in Washington D.C. or anywhere else in the country because the Supreme Court said his official actions as president are not to be challenged under law.
Lucian K. Truscott IV, a graduate of West Point, has had a 50-year career as a journalist, novelist and screenwriter. He has covered stories such as Watergate, the Stonewall riots and wars in Lebanon, Iraq and Afghanistan. He is also the author of five bestselling novels and several unsuccessful motion pictures. He has three children, lives in rural Pennsylvania and spends his time Worrying About the State of Our Nation and madly scribbling in a so-far fruitless attempt to Make Things Better.
You can read Lucian Truscott's daily articles at luciantruscott.substack.com. We encourage our readers to get a subscription.
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