President Donald Trump says the massive new White House ballroom is being constructed with extraordinarily strong steel and concrete designed to withstand a nuclear attack, predicting that a future Democratic administration would have an exceedingly difficult time demolishing the structure.
Trump made the comments during an Oval Office interview and tour of the construction project with New York magazine reporter Ben Terris. The ballroom is being built on the site where the East Wing previously stood and is part of a larger complex that the administration has also described as serving national security purposes.
Asked about the possibility that a future Democratic administration might seek to remove the ballroom, Trump expressed doubt that doing so would even be physically feasible.
“I don’t think they could, physically,” Trump said of any Democratic effort to undo the project.
The president said the structure is being built with exceptionally heavy-duty materials, describing its steel and concrete as “used in nuclear power plants,” and asserting that even prolonged use of a jackhammer against the columns would fail to make a visible impact.
“It’s meant for if there’s a nuclear attack,” the president added. “I’m not sure you could take it down.”
Trump’s remarks came just days after the Supreme Court allowed construction of the ballroom to continue while litigation over the project proceeds. In an Aug. 31 order, the court stayed a lower-court injunction that had halted the work.
Chief Justice John Roberts joined Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson in dissenting from the court’s order. The dispute includes questions over whether the project could legally proceed without congressional authorization.
The Supreme Court’s order did not issue a final ruling on the underlying legality of the ballroom project. Instead, it allowed construction to move forward while the government pursues further review of the case.
The ballroom has been planned as an enormous addition to the White House complex, with the project encompassing approximately 90,000 square feet—nearly twice the size of the main White House residence.
Trump has said private donors are paying for the project, although questions surrounding its financing and the identities and interests of donors have become part of the broader controversy over the construction.
The president has additionally portrayed the ballroom complex as serving a security function, with plans reportedly including hardened security features and an underground bunker. In its Supreme Court filing, the administration described the project as an “integrated military complex” that includes a secure ballroom space and argued that it is important for national security.
{Matzav.com}
