President Donald Trump’s Justice Department filed an emergency appeal Friday night to keep his $400 million White House ballroom under construction, and legal observers immediately noted the filing reads less like a federal appellate brief and more like one of the president’s Truth Social screeds.
The 27-page motion, filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, invokes “American Patriots” who donated to the project, boasts that construction is “under budget and ahead of schedule,” and describes the ballroom as “beautiful” and “desperately needed.”
The Washington Post, which reviewed the filing, noted that its tone, particularly the first five pages, “departs from the usual style for federal appellate briefs, which typically focus on legal arguments.”
“Instead, the language closely resembles Trump‘s charged remarks and social media posts about the ballroom, which the president has identified as a personal priority,” the report said.
“Time is of the essence!” DOJ lawyers wrote, using an exclamation point that is essentially unheard of in federal appellate filings.
The brief also argued the ballroom protects against “hostile attacks via drones, ballistic missiles, bullets, biohazards” — a national security argument that U.S. District Judge Richard Leon, a George W. Bush appointee, had already dismissed with barely concealed contempt.
“Please!” Leon wrote in his ruling, adding that the “large hole” beside the White House was “a problem of the President’s own making.”
The administration said it would seek emergency relief from the Supreme Court if the appeals court doesn’t rule in its favor.
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