‘I’m struggling to see this as an ‘alteration’,’ judge said amid lawsuit seeking to halt construction until president has won congressional approval

A federal judge has slammed Donald Trump’s demolition of the White House’s East Wing, and plan to build a $400m ballroom where it once stood, as “brazen”, and has indicated he might terminate the project later this month.

“I’m struggling to see this as an ‘alteration’,” Judge Richard Leon said Tuesday during a hearing in a lawsuit brought by the National Trust for Historic Preservation seeking to halt construction until the president has won congressional approval and passed independent reviews.

White House lawyers have argued that Trump does not need outside permission to pursue the project, which began with demolition of the East Wing in October, and which he aims to complete by 2028.