In an opinion filed March 31,  a US District Court judge for the District of Columbia has rejected the Trump administration’s arguments for a 90,000-square-foot, $400 million ballroom to be erected on the former site of the East Wing, which Trump unceremoniously demolished last year. 

Judge Richard J. Leon, a George W. Bush appointee, came out of the gate strong, in an opinion that starts, “The President of the United States is the steward of the White House for future generations of First Families. He is not, however, the owner!” He goes on to use seventeen more exclamation points in the course of the 35-page opinion, which is highly dismissive of the administration’s arguments.