US justice official suggests Trump could even order Statue of Liberty demolition

A senior US Justice Department official has suggested that the administration of President Donald Trump would, in principle, have the authority to demolish even the Statue of Liberty in New York, and that no court could prevent it.

The statement was made by Justice Department employee Yaakov Roth during a hearing with Judge Patricia Millett at a federal appeals court on June 5, according to POLITICO.

During the session, two of the three judges on the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit questioned the argument that the administration could proceed with a plan to construct a ballroom on the site of the White House’s East Wing despite potential judicial rulings against it.

Roth told the judges that once the administration begins executing a construction project, it cannot be stopped even if a court later rules the actions unlawful. He affirmed this view in response to a follow-up question about whether such an approach would also apply in a hypothetical scenario involving the demolition of the Statue of Liberty.

According to Roth, Congress could, in principle, determine the future of the White House East Wing.

“Congress can figure out how to deal with that, given the fact that we have these national security imperatives,” he concluded.

The remarks come as the US president is actively pursuing renovations of the presidential residence. Trump has initiated the construction of a ballroom reportedly costing more than $200 million on the site of the East Wing, ordered changes to the White House Rose Garden including paving part of it for events, and altered the decor in several rooms.

By Jeyhun Aghazada