Tuesday had two things on the agenda at the White House. A mail-in voting executive order and a $400 million ballroom. Neither went smoothly.
Trump signed an executive order aimed at restricting mail-in voting nationwide. Election law experts were already calling it likely unconstitutional before the ink dried. UCLA’s Rick Hasen wrote that even if courts do not block it, “it seems highly unlikely any of this could be implemented for 2026.”
That was the policy side. Then came the ballroom.
A federal judge had ruled earlier in the day that construction on Trump’s $400 million White House ballroom must stop unless Congress gives express authorization.
U.S. District Judge Richard Leon, a George W. Bush appointee, spelled it out in his 62-page opinion. “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!” The judge added a sign-off that read: “Unfortunately for Defendants, unless and until Congress blesses this project through statutory authorization, construction has to stop!”
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Trump responded by pulling out his notes. Large notes. Written in thick black Sharpie.
He started reading.
“Basically, he’s saying I need congressional approval,” Trump said. “I see right here, I just wrote it down.”
Then he moved to the next line.
He paused.
“What is that? To…”
The room waited.
After a few seconds, he got it out. “Cover the safety and security of the White House and its grounds.”
He tried to move forward. Then came another stumble.
“This has the highest level of, in fact, they call this graph… this, uh, grass, this, uh, the glass…”
He stopped again.
“It’s bulletproof,” he finally said. “And it’s ballistic-proof.”
Trump on a judge ruling against his ballroom: “It says here very carefully, ‘the safety and security have to be protected on the White House grounds.’ Well that’s what we’re doing because everything is bulletproof glass, including the ballroom … we have a drone-proof roof …… pic.twitter.com/TIyiqpGBQv
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 31, 2026
This was not new.
Just weeks earlier, at an event celebrating himself as the “Undisputed Champion of Coal,” Trump announced: “I’m proud to officially name the undisputed…” before going quiet for a couple of seconds and picking it back up. “The undisputed champion of beautiful, clean coal.”
The White House has a consistent response to all of it. Spokesperson Davis Ingle, a 31-year-old communications graduate whose father runs the university he attended, issued a statement calling Trump “the sharpest, most accessible, and energetic president in American history” and describing reporters covering the story as “lightweight, glue-sniffing.”
Trump, for his part, told reporters he would be appealing the ballroom ruling and that congressional approval was not needed since taxpayers were not paying for it. On Truth Social, he wrote that the ballroom and the Trump Kennedy Center were “under budget, ahead of schedule, and will be among the most magnificent Buildings of their kind anywhere in the World.”
Featured image via X screengrab
