Todd Blanche’s Unhinged Midnight Ballroom Motion

After unsuccessfully demanding the National Trust for Historic Preservation drop its lawsuit against Trump’s ballroom, Todd Blanche filed a crazed, hyperbolic late-night rant on the docket

Apr 28, 2026

I’ve been reading and reporting on court filings since early in Trump’s first term, and I can say without a doubt that I’ve never read anything like the motion filed by Todd Blanche and Stanley Woodward late Monday night.

Back in December, a little over a month after Donald Trump demolished the East Wing of the White House, the National Trust for Historic Preservation in the United States sued the government to halt all construction.

In the ensuing months, the government argued that construction was essential for national security. Judge Leon, a G. W. Bush appointee, agreed that the underground bunker portion could impact national security and allowed that construction to continue. He continued to block the above-ground ballroom portion, however, finding no threat to national security in pausing it while the court considers the lawsuit.

On Saturday night, a shooting incident occurred outside the White House Correspondents Dinner, and the administration immediately used it as a reason to justify lifting the injunction on ballroom construction.

In fact, 45 minutes after the shooting I posted on BlueSky: “How soon before Trump files notice with the court in the case over his ballroom that the WHCD shooting proves construction needs to continue?”

It didn’t take long. Hours later, Todd Blanche wrote a letter to the National Trust and demanded they drop their lawsuit by 9 AM Monday or the administration would file a motion to dissolve Judge Leon’s injunction with the court.

That motion hit the docket just before midnight Monday, and words fail me. Here are some choice excerpts.

Buckle in.

“The National Trust for Historic Preservation” is a beautiful name, but even their name is FAKE because when 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. In fact, the United States refused to continue funding it in 2005 because they strongly disagreed with their mission and objectives. They are very bad for our Country. They stop many projects that are worthy, and hurt many others. In this case, they are trying to stop one that is vital to our National Security, and the Safety of all Presidents of the United States, both current and future, their families, staff, and Cabinet members.

It reads like a Truth Social post.

They were asked by the United States Military not to bring this suit because of the Top Secret nature of the important facility being built. They were shown detailed plans and specifications of this knitted, unified, and cohesive structure by Top Officers and Leaders in both the Military and Secret Service. But this did not deter them because they suffer from Trump Derangement Syndrome, commonly referred to as TDS, as noted by Democrat Senator John Fetterman, of Pennsylvania, and are represented by the lawyer for Barack Hussein Obama, Gregory Craig.

The lower section of the building does not work without the upper section and, likewise, the upper section of the building does not work without the lower. It is all one highly integrated unit!

The exclamation points and all-caps are how it’s written in the motion.

With such a facility, it would have been impossible for an attack like that which took place last Saturday evening in D.C. when an attempted assassin, armed with a shotgun, pistol, and knives, charged through a security checkpoint at the Washington Hilton in an attempt to assassinate President Donald J. Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, and members of the President’s Cabinet and senior staff, during the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. The Secret Service fortunately neutralized the assassin before he could reach the ballroom. However, Saturday’s narrow miss—which marks the third assassination attempt on President Trump since 2024—confirms what should have already been obvious: Presidents need a secure space for large events, that currently does not exist in Washington, D.C., and this Court’s injunction stalling this Project cannot defensibly continue, for the sake of the safety of President Trump, future Presidents, and their families, Cabinets, and staff.

Narrow miss? I think the latest report is that he got one shot off in a lobby two flights up from the entrance of the ballroom, and that there were a thousand people at a hundred tables between the door of the ballroom and the dais where the president was sitting. It’s also pretty ridiculous to say that a safe place for events doesn’t currently exist in DC. The secret service failed to designate the dinner as a National Special Security Event, failing to unlock maximum federal security resources. That’s on them.

In its most recent opinion, the Court stated that there is no “national security justification” for why a secure ballroom must be constructed “immediately.” Those assertions were wrong then, and they are indefensible now. The fact that an assassin came mere seconds from shooting the President—along with his family, the bulk of his Cabinet, his senior staff, and the Washington press corps—lays bare that D.C. does not have a secure space for large high-profile events, or one able to “accommodate an event with the line of succession for the U.S. government. What he did on Saturday night could not have taken place in this new and highly secure facility!

Again, an assassin did not come “within mere seconds” from shooting the president. That’s patently ridiculous. Besides, the White House Correspondents Dinner isn’t a White House event and wouldn’t be held at the White House.

After the attack, a bipartisan chorus of legislators, analysts, and media pundits have vocally expressed support for completion of the ballroom project. This group includes Democrat Senator John Fetterman, and Senator Rand Paul.

Rand Paul and John Fetterman do not a “bipartisan chorus” make. That’s a libertarian duet at best.

During litigation, the judge explained that construction would take years, so they can afford a brief pause while the court considers the arguments. Here’s what the motion says about that:

“...every additional day of court-manufactured delay is yet another day that the lives of the President, his family, his Cabinet, and his staff, and those of future Presidents, are being subject to avoidable hazard. 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. 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. On top of everything else, this project is a gift to our Country from President Trump, and other Donors. It is free of charge to the American Taxpayer. Who could ever object to that?

Free of charge to the American taxpayer? Republicans are already introducing bills to fund the ballroom with taxpayer money. They may try to sneak it into their budget reconciliation bill to fund ICE, but they’ll have to go back to committee for that. John Thune doesn’t seem thrilled at the prospect, though.

This Court should never have enjoined this Project, but now, after the Saturday night attempted assassination, which could have never taken place in the new facility, reasonable minds can no longer differ — The injunction must be dissolved. This Court should immediately issue an indicative ruling that it will dissolve the injunction, and put an end to this frivolous lawsuit, which greatly endangers the lives of all Presidents, current and future.

That was two sentences.

This motion is signed by Todd Blanche himself, along with Stanley Woodward and the PADAG R. Trent McCotter.

I have never seen a government filing like this. It’s beyond parody, riddled with political hyperbole, and I’m very curious to see how Judge Leon responds to it.

You can read the full motion here.

~AG