Planning commission approves Trump’s White House ballroom plans

Legal fight over Trump’s enormous construction project will continue despite panel’s approval.A planning commission has approved President Donald Trump’s proposal to build an enormous ballroom at the White House, an effort to put his personal touch on a national landmark that has stoked backlash and legal challenges.The National Capital Planning Commission, tasked with overseeing proposed construction on federal sites in the Washington, DC area, voted in favour of the project on Thursday.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Judge temporarily halts Trump’s $400m White House ballroom projectlist 2 of 3Trump to close Kennedy Center for renovations amid backlash from performerslist 3 of 3US arts commission approves gold coin stamped with Donald Trump’s faceend of list“I believe that, in time, this ballroom will be considered every bit as much of a national treasure as the other key components of the White House,” said Will Scharf, who chairs the commission and is Trump’s former personal lawyer.But the future of the ballroom, to be built on the site of the East Wing of the White House that Trump had demolished in October, remains uncertain. A federal judge ruled earlier this week that the project could not move forward without Congressional authorisation.“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!” US District Judge Richard Leon stated in a ruling on Tuesday.The US president has paid little mind to the contested legality of the project, knocking down the East Wing of the White House with little prior notice and proceeding with construction despite legal challenges.Trump reacted angrily to the Tuesday ruling over social media, stating that the ballroom was being financed through private donations rather than federal funds and that previous construction had not required approval from Congress.