DOJ tells judge Trump can 'bulldoze' Statue of Liberty with no consequences

A Justice Department lawyer told a federal appeals court Friday that the Trump administration could demolish the Statue of Liberty before anyone could sue to stop him — and that would simply be the end of it.

The stunning exchange came during oral arguments before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit over President Donald Trump's controversial $400 million White House ballroom project, built on the site of the demolished East Wing.

Judge Patricia Millett pressed the government's lawyer directly. "If the govt decides very quickly to bulldoze the Statue of Liberty, the people whose ancestors — that was the first thing they saw coming to this country, but the govt moved too fast — nothing can be done?" she asked, according to Politico's Kyle Cheney, who was in the courtroom.

The DOJ lawyer's response: "I think that's right, yes."

The administration has argued throughout the ballroom litigation that no one has legal standing to challenge the project once demolition is complete. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon ruled in March that "no statute comes close to giving the President" the authority to build the ballroom without congressional approval. The appellate panel — Millett alongside Trump-appointee Neomi Rao and Biden-appointee Brad Garcia — is now weighing whether to reinstate his injunction.

The ballroom fight is far from Trump's only unilateral remaking of American landmarks. Federal judges have also been asked to weigh in on his effort to paint the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool "American flag" blue — the subject of a lawsuit accusing the administration of bypassing required congressional notice. A separate judge blocked Trump's move to rename the Kennedy Center in his honor. And the administration has drawn up plans for a 250-foot triumphal arch at Memorial Circle near Arlington National Cemetery, across the Potomac from the Lincoln Memorial.

Trump has defended the ballroom as a national security necessity, posting AI-generated renderings of a "DronePort" on the roof and warning that Judge Leon would be held responsible for any attack on the president.

The appellate panel has allowed construction to continue during the legal fight. Trump has said the ballroom is scheduled to open around September 2028.