'Embarrassing' legal filing defending ballroom 'appears to be dictated' by Trump himself
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U.S. President Donald Trump takes questions from media at a press briefing, in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 25, 2026. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File Photo
President Donald Trump is doubling down on his ballroom as supporters rally around the idea that life outside the White House could be too dangerous for him. So, a Trump lawyer filed a brief that at least one legal reporter is calling "embarrassing" for reading like a TruthSocial post.
A Bloomberg Law and Washington Post report detailed the court filing submitted Sunday by Trump appointee Brett Shumate, saying that the National Trust for Historic Preservation should drop its lawsuit to stop the ballroom because of the incident.
Republicans have since lined up behind Trump, with several now supporting using taxpayer funds to pay for the $400 million project Trump claimed would be paid for by donations. The new GOP bill would fully fund it, despite Trump insisting millions of donations have already rolled in from corporate America and billionaire pals.
"Stan Woodward's name appears at the bottom of this filing, but this appears to have been dictated by Trump himself," said Politico legal reporter Kyle Cheney. "Hard to read it any other way."
The filing was submitted just before midnight on Monday.
The National Trust made it clear on Monday that it would not be dropping its suit.
Among the allegations in the filing is that "Trump Derangement Syndrome" has made it far too difficult for him to leave the White House.
"The nine-page brief adopts a tone and grammatical style that recalls Trump’s own writing style on social media and is unusual for a federal government brief," said the Bloomberg report. "It is signed by three political appointees, and no career attorneys."
The court filing alleges that the "name is FAKE because they add the words in the United States' to the National Trust for Historic Preservation, it makes it sound like a Governmental Agency, which it is not.”
President Harry Truman signed legislation creating the National Trust on October 26, 1949 (16 U.S.C. §§ 468-468d), the group's website says.
Trump is known for randomly capitalizing words for emphasis in his social media posts.
“They are very bad for our Country. They stop many projects that are worthy, and hurt many others,” the officials wrote about the nonprofit.
The lawsuit also attacked the National Trust's lawyer, Gregory Craig, of Foley Hoang LLP, who previously served as White House Counsel under President Barack Obama's administration. The filing falsely characterized him as “the lawyer for Barack Hussein Obama.” Craig was targeted by Trump during the first administration, but was ultimately acquitted by a jury.
Bloomberg also pointed out the "superlative language" that "gushes over Trump's brilliance."
“If any other President had the ability, foresight, or talents necessary, to build this ballroom, which will be one of the greatest, safest, and most secure structures of its kind anywhere in the World, there would never have been a lawsuit,” the filing said. “But, because it is DONALD J. TRUMP, a highly successful real estate developer, who has abilities that others don’t, especially those who assume the Office of President, this frivolous and meritless lawsuit was filed. Again, it’s called TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME.”
Judge Richard Leon of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia granted a pause on the building of the ballroom, finding that Trump never had the authority to rip apart the East Wing of the White House to begin with. Trump has appealed the ruling,
The White House argued at the time of the filing that, because the construction was for a secure facility, the ballroom itself was about national security. That didn't fly, and Judge Leon issued a clarification stating that the administration itself had separated the project into the below-ground bunker, a national security area, and the above-ground ballroom.
Shumate said "nothing prevents" Trump from asking Congress for the approval and funds to build his ballroom, and the judge agreed.
One person commented, "This completely unserious DOJ motion about the ballroom is signed by none other than Todd Blanche and Stanley Woodward, the Number 1 and Number 2 officials at the DOJ. Both are former personal defense attorneys for the President. I cannot believe this is real. Citing 'Trump Derangement Syndrome' in a federal filing is so freaking embarrassing it's not even funny."