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Construction on Trump’s White House ballroom can continue for now, US appeals court says

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal appeals court is allowing President Donald Trump to continue building a $400 million ballroom at the White House, ruling a day after a lower court judge continued to block above-ground construction on the site of the former East Wing.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit late Friday put on temporary hold the order by U.S. District Judge Richard Leon halting part of the project. The panel scheduled a hearing for June 5 to review the case.

In his ruling Thursday, Leon continued to block above-ground construction of the 90,000-square-foot (8,400-square-meter) ballroom addition while allowing only below-ground work to continue on a bunker and other “national security facilities” at the site.

Trump tore down the East Wing last fall to build the massive ballroom in that space. The National Trust for Historic Preservation later sued to block construction, arguing that Trump had overstepped his authority by moving forward with the project without first getting approval from key federal agencies and Congress.

Leon ruled in favor of the nonprofit group at the end of March, but put his decision on hold for a brief period while allowing the underground work to continue. The administration appealed.

Trump has said the ballroom is a long-overdue addition to the White House complex and argues that he has the right to build it because the cost will be covered by donations from wealthy individuals and corporations, though taxpayer dollars will pay for the security aspects.

With Trump in a holding pattern on Iran war, allies and critics worry he risks getting boxed in

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is facing warnings from foes and allies alike that he’s getting boxed in on the Iran war, a conflict he sold as a brief military incursion but that has since settled into a holding pattern. It's been nearly a week since U.S. and Iranian negotiators reached a tentative agreement to extend the ceasefire in the conflict by 60 days and start a new round of talks on Iran’s nuclear program that required Trump's sign off. But Trump has called for unspecified changes to the agreement and Iranian officials — perhaps calculating that the Republican president is reluctant to restart the bombardment after burning through key weapons systems — are showing no signs they'll give in to new demands. A series of strikes by the U.S. and Iran this week has raised fresh concern that the ceasefire could collapse. Trump on Wednesday downplayed the significance.
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