Donald Trump’s plan for further renovations to White House landmarks has prompted a lawsuit from the DC Preservation League.
Trump has deconstructed the East Wing to build a ballroom and has marbled the Lincoln Bedroom bathroom too. The president has made it clear he wishes to make another set of changes to other buildings around the White House, though some could do long-term damage.
A plan to coat the Eisenhower Executive Office Building with white paint has horrified leading experts in the DC Preservation League, who were part of a lawsuit filed against Trump’s rapid remodeling plans. League spokesperson Rebecca Miller argued Trump had been treating the White House as his “personal portfolio”.
Speaking to The Wall Street Journal, Miller said, “It seems as though the president is treating the federal portfolio as if it’s his own personal portfolio.” Greg Werkheiser, one of the lawyers who filed the lawsuit, has said the issue is not in Trump’s plan, but in how he wants to make the sweeping changes to historic buildings.
Werkheiser said, “Paint traps moisture, ruins the mortar, weakens and cracks the rock.” Trump’s wish to repaint the Eisenhower Executive Office Building was confirmed in an earlier statement from the president, where he shared his desire to change the “ugly building”.
He said, “It was always considered an ugly building and it’s actually one of the most beautiful buildings ever built.” Even with the lawsuit hitting Trump, some art experts believe there is nothing stopping the president from making changes regardless.
Laura Katzman, a James Madison University art-history professor, said, “We know he’s capable of doing things without approval.” The plan for the Eisenhower Building had already garnered criticism from experts, with a separate lawsuit filed last month against Trump and his plan for the building.
Other historic preservationists have sued the president over his plans to paint the office building next to the White House. Trump has been warned that such a plan could do irreversible damage to the building, with a suit filed on Friday by the DC Preservation League and Cultural Heritage Partners, CNNreported.
The latest suit has asked the US District Court for the District of Columbia to stop Trump and other federal officials from making any changes to the Eisenhower Executive Office Building before the potential changes are assessed in a standard review process. Judge Dabney L. Friedrich is, according to The Washington Post, expected to rule on this request.
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