r/politics • u/theindependentonline The Independent • 1d ago

No Paywall Trump’s ballroom construction ‘likely unlawful,’ John Roberts says, but Supreme Court will allow it anyway

https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-ballroom-construction-unlawful-john-roberts-b3042329.html
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u/AcademicPublius Colorado 1d ago

There is a theory that the Supreme Court is actually carefully choosing which wins they give Trump in order to give the appearance of equanimity and fairness. Cases like this seem to me to put the lie to that theory. A loss for Trump here would undoubtedly show independence and potentially save Republican seats in the midterms; literally nobody is happy with the fucking ballroom and it is coming down in 2029 regardless of the circumstances.

And yet.

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u/Romano16 America 1d ago

In my opinion the construction yard of this ballroom should stay and be a reminder to Americans for its foolishness and careless vote for an insurrectionist.

By removing it we learn nothing.

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u/BPhiloSkinner Maryland 1d ago

We may not have to choose. The Orange One is not known for high-quality construction work, and it's entirely possible that this Temu Versailles will fall over in a stiff spring breeze.

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u/AcademicPublius Colorado 1d ago

We will learn nothing regardless; there are plenty of monuments to how senseless and awful slavery was, and a large portion of the populace said "fuck off, we like plantations and hate n-words". But if we leave it up the next would-be president-for-life will hold their inauguration there.

Smash it. Break every stone into powder.

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u/mishap1 I voted 1d ago

The stone has been fucking sent to Italy to be carved.

https://www.euronews.com/culture/2026/08/23/trump-sends-indiana-stone-to-italy-to-carve-white-house-ballroom-columns

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u/AcademicPublius Colorado 1d ago

Very expensive demolition material. Personally, I'd have gone with cheap adobe.

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u/murphysfriend 23h ago

Come’On man! Wile E. Coyote; you went with ACME products again! 🤦🏻‍♂️

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u/shartoftheinternet 17h ago edited 17h ago

Do EU tariffs apply, or did that bitch Meloni suck him off enough to exempt her shitty Christo-fascist country?

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u/DoughnutImportant875 1h ago

Perhaps the courts will decide he needs to pay for it!!

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u/The_Bucket_Of_Truth 23h ago

If it gets built they should make it a museum of democracy.

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u/primetimerobus 1d ago

Unfortunately Trump has figured out you do so many bad actions that no one can keep up with all of them. Ballroom isn’t on the voters radar. No one remembers Signalgate, something that in any other time would be a major deal.

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u/AcademicPublius Colorado 1d ago

The voters, sure. The Democratic president who is going to be looking for a clear and visible way to say "America's moving on from Trump"? Not so sure about them.

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u/No_Skill_7170 1d ago

Unfortunately, the ballroom was inevitable as soon as the wrecking ball hit the wall of the East wing.

There was never a path beyond that, where this ballroom wasn’t happening.

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u/Slow_Investment_2211 1d ago

They’re not going to tear it down. I wish Reddit would stop with this shit.

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u/AcademicPublius Colorado 1d ago

Why not?

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u/Slow_Investment_2211 1d ago

Because until the construction of a ballroom the White House has to host parties in tents on the lawn. Even if the next president is a Democrat, they will probably prefer hosting events in a ballroom over tents

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u/loki2002 Ohio 22h ago

Because until the construction of a ballroom the White House has to host parties in tents on the lawn.

They could use the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center or The National Union Building. Hell, any if the other, many event spaces all around DC.

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u/Slow_Investment_2211 22h ago

…ok

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u/loki2002 Ohio 11h ago

Okay, so they don't need to host parties or anything in tents on the lawn as you claimed.

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u/AcademicPublius Colorado 1d ago

Optically speaking, there's a lot more to be gained by destroying the ballroom and restoring the original East Wing than there is by allowing "Trump's ballroom" to stay up. As far as alternate locations, the presidency isn't exactly starved for choice, either.

It's a very odd complaint, really: "We can't host events inside, so we have to let this abomination against the White House stay up as long as possible"?

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u/Jin-Gitaxias-Mom 1d ago

This is the type of thing Republicans will campaign on about how Democrats are wasting taxpayer money to make a statement, forgetting Trump did it unlawfully.

The easier thing to do wothput burning money or precious political capital would be to rename it the East Wing Ballroom or whatever, in effect stripping Trump’s name and legacy from the building, and then doing a full structural and technological survey to fix any of the cheap/shoddy work done by Trump’s buddies.

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u/AcademicPublius Colorado 1d ago

Campaign successfully, though? "They brought back the old White House; here's why this sucks"?

The next Democratic president is going to have a lot of stuff on their plate. This is probably the most straightforward. If they can't or aren't willing to accomplish it, they're not going to hit everything else that needs doing, first and foremost dealing with the Supreme Court.

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u/Real-Extension-1357 22h ago

You'd be surprised by how braindead these Republican voters are. They seem fine with the ballroom and the Iran war. They werent shaken at trumps rally last week

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u/AcademicPublius Colorado 22h ago

They werent shaken at trumps rally last week

That's a pretty small subsection, though, ain't it? A bit like saying "Grateful Dead fans enjoy Grateful Dead concerts".

I think his core fans will be there for most of it (though IIRC the support for it was like 15%). That's not really enough, though.

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u/Real-Extension-1357 17h ago

I said that during the election too

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u/Tetracropolis 22h ago

There is a theory that the Supreme Court is actually carefully choosing which wins they give Trump in order to give the appearance of equanimity and fairness.

It's pure copium from people who are incapable of grasping that judicial philosophies that do not align with their political aims exist and could genuinely be held.

A court with all the same conservative members as the current one was in office in 2020/21 when Trump was trying via all means to let Trump stay in power. They did nothing to help him achieve it.

In 2024 they made a decision which Sotomayor said would give President Biden the ability to send Seal Team Six to kill Trump and enjoy immunity, of have a military coup to stay in power; "immune immune immune" were her exact words.

They've also struck down his flagship tariff policy and ruled against him on Birthright Citizenship.

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u/AcademicPublius Colorado 21h ago

It's pure copium from people who are incapable of grasping that judicial philosophies that do not align with their political aims exist and could genuinely be held.

Oh, no, let's be clear on this. Don't give them credit they absolutely do not deserve--they're hacks. But they're not hacks that care about PR. If they want to give Trump a win, they give Trump a win, process be damned.

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u/FellowHumanNo404 5h ago

In 2024 they made a decision which Sotomayor said would give President Biden the ability to send Seal Team Six to kill Trump and enjoy immunity

It's worth noting that Trump's lawyer in that case vocally agreed with Sotomayor on that point.