A U.S. appeals court has allowed the Trump administration to continue construction of a $400 million White House ballroom at the site of the former East Wing for the time being.

The three-judge panel in Washington, D.C. granted a temporary stay of a lower court order that had paused most above-ground work following a lawsuit from the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

The group had challenged President Donald Trump’s authority to demolish the East Wing and proceed without congressional approval.

U.S. District Judge Richard Leon had initially blocked construction in March, citing the lack of congressional authorization.

He later permitted limited underground work tied to national security, provided it did not determine the final scale of the ballroom.

The Trump administration argued that halting construction posed “grave national-security harms” to the White House, the president, and staff.

In granting the stay, the appeals court said the move was intended to give judges time to review the administration’s emergency appeal.

The court emphasized that the decision does not amount to a final ruling on the merits of the case.

The next hearing is scheduled for June 5th.

NEW: An appeals court has ONCE AGAIN overturned an activist judge’s order which BLOCKED the construction of President Trump’s ballroom

This is the SECOND TIME an appeals court has stepped in for this SINGLE CASE

START IMPEACHING ROGUE JUDGES! pic.twitter.com/MllteeoHyI

— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) April 18, 2026

The latest ruling follows days of legal back-and-forth over the project, with a lower court initially halting most construction before allowing limited underground work tied to security.

Just last week, Trump was cleared to continue the project before another activist judge stepped in.

However, that was blocked again on Thursday.

BREAKING: Federal Judge LIMITS Construction on President Trump’s Privately-Funded White House Ballroom – Trump Responds

Trump has stated the ballroom project is being funded by private donors and major corporations and has pushed back against claims it requires Congressional approval.

“Congressional approval has never been given on anything, in these circumstances, big or small, having to do with construction at the White House,” wrote in a recent Truth Social post.

“In this case, even less so, because the Ballroom is being built with Private Donations, no Federal Taxpayer Money!”

The project is part of a broader effort by Trump to reshape Washington, D.C., including plans for a large ceremonial arch and renovations to the Kennedy Center.

The post Federal Appeals Court Overturns Block on Trump Ballroom Construction — The Second Time This Week! appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Petro is trying to rally the remaining leftists in the Western Hemisphere.

One of the most controversial heads of state in Latin America, Colombia’s Gustavo Petro, is again speaking out against the Foreign Policy of US President Donald J. Trump, sending out ‘warnings’ that impress absolutely no one.

Petro has just arrived from Barcelona after a summit with other leftist leaders: Spain’s Pedro Sánchez and Brazil’s Lula da Silva, both trying to survive corruption scandals all around them, and Mexico’s Claudia Shainbaum, who ‘leads’ a country controlled by the Cartels’ ultra-violence.

These failed leaders, of course, pretend to have ‘miraculous’ formulas to improve geopolitical realities, when in fact they are highly unpopular in their own underperforming countries.

Today (18), in an interview with Spanish newspaper El País, Petro opined that US pressure on ‘dissenting Latin American leaders’ (a.k.a. Socialist dictators) could lead to a ‘rebellion’ against Washington’s influence.

Reuters reported:

“Petro, a former member of the leftist M-19 guerrilla, has frequently clashed with President Donald Trump, whose administration placed him on a sanctions list, compiled by the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, for alleged involvement in the global illicit drug trade.

The 65-year-old, who travelled to Barcelona for a summit alongside the leaders of Spain, Brazil and Mexico, told El Pais the OFAC sanctions were being used as a political instrument to extort ‘those of us who espouse dissenting politics’.”

Watch: Petro booed last Tuesday during a speech.

El comunista Gustavo Petro fue ABUCHEADO masivamente, durante su intervención en la Macrorrueda de las Américas 2026. Los patriotas colombianos gritaron ¡FUERA PETRO!. ¿Apoyas a estos valientes?. pic.twitter.com/jrfl5zdSVQ

— Eduardo Menoni (@eduardomenoni) April 15, 2026

“It’s a system like the one the Spanish king had a few centuries ago. And what was Latin America’s response? Rebellion. That’s what will happen now if the U.S. government isn’t capable of rethinking its ties to Latin America,” he said.

Petro said that the US operation to capture Nicolas Maduro in January left many leaders in fear, apparently oblivious to the fact that this was 100% intended.

“However, Petro said that his personal relationship with Trump was good. The two had spoken twice recently and shattered false narratives about each other, he said, adding he had not gone to Washington to ‘get on his knees to beg” but they instead met as equals’.”

Read more:

Colombian Marxist Leader Petro Says His US Visa Has Been Revoked – Goes on a Deranged Rant, Calls Trump ‘Donald Duck’

The post Colombia’s Leftist Petro Warns: US Policy Against Latin American Socialist Countries May Lead to a ‘Rebellion Against Washington’ appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Jesse Kelly talked about how the average American is struggling financially during a recent episode of his show “The First.”

Kelly explained that Congress and others in DC are ignoring the plight of those struggling while focusing on obscure things like stock market performance, and that those in Washington DC are out of touch with the real struggles of the American people.

He went on to explain that people can’t afford basic things like groceries and cars, let alone home ownership.

“I live in Texas. I hang around normal people. It’s who I talk to. My private life. It’s what I do. People in Washington DC do not understand this very, very simple concept, and this is why I scream about it all the time,” Kelly said.

“Americans can’t afford things anymore, and they remember what it was like to afford things,” Kelly explained.

“Since January of 2021, that’s five years ago, cumulative inflation is between 23 and 25 percent. Also, wages have been flat,” Kelly said.

“When you look at your economy, and you press stop and then print seven trillion dollars, that’s gonna happen,” Kelly continued.

“The truth is that five years ago, you could afford more things than you can now. The American people, they go to the grocery store, and they are upset because they can’t afford things,” Kelly said.

“They can’t afford shoes, they can’t afford cars, they can’t afford gas,” Kelly continued.

“We have people suffering economically in this country. The job market is absolute crap,” Kelly said.

Kelly explained that the American people need to hear from our elected officials on a constant basis that they want to solve this problem to the best of their ability.

“I’ve stressed it over and over and over and over again. People need to think that you are on this problem. Even if you can’t solve this problem, and I believe that we can solve some of these problems,” Kelly said of DC politicians.

“The people need to hear from our elected leaders day after day after day after day that they are trying to solve this problem,” Kelly continued.

Kelly also talked about home-selling and home-buying statistics. The homes on the market are not affordable to many people, creating a gap in the market.

“Home sellers now outnumber buyers by 630,000. The largest gap ever recorded. People are trying to sell their homes. People can’t afford to buy homes,” Kelly explained.

Watch:

The post Jesse Kelly on How Congress is Ignoring the American Citizen – “Americans Can’t Afford Things Anymore, and They Remember What it Was Like to Afford Things” (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Tom Homan has revealed that Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons and his family endured vicious harassment from the left, including doxxing of his wife and children and protests at their home.

Lyons is stepping down from the agency at the end of May.

In a Newsmax interview on Friday, Homan praised Lyons’ service while highlighting the personal toll the job has taken on him and his family.

Lyons, a career law enforcement official who oversaw record deportations, announced his resignation earlier this week. He cited a desire to spend more time with his family and transition to the private sector, with his last day set for May 31.

BREAKING: I’m told that Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons submitted his resignation to DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin today. He will be staying on until May 31st to help with the transition. He oversaw roughly 584,000 ICE deportations since President Trump’s inauguration, and plans… pic.twitter.com/bthnCZjlPU

— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) April 17, 2026

Homan told Newsmax, “God bless Todd and his family — his family sacrificed a lot. The left has not only attacked him. They doxed his wife and his kids and protested his home and his family and you know, they deserve a break and I’ll miss him. He’s a friend of mine. I’ll still be friends with him.”

WATCH:

WOW. Tom Homan reveals outgoing ICE Director Todd Lyons faced PROTESTS AT HIS HOUSE, his wife and kids got DOXED, as he’s set to retire by the end of May

The left is CRUEL and VICIOUS.

All because Director Lyons patriotically defended America.

HOMAN: “God bless Todd and… pic.twitter.com/0nVSU0YF9I

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) April 18, 2026

Homan also expressed appreciation for Lyons’ leadership, noting that under his direction, “ICE achieved a record number of removals in the first year of this Administration, despite unprecedented challenges.”

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin confirmed the resignation in a statement provided to Bill Melugin on Thursday.

“Director Lyons has been a great leader of ICE and key player in helping the Trump administration remove murderers, rapists, pedophiles, terrorists, and gang members from American communities. He jumpstarted an agency that had not been allowed to do its job for four years. Thanks to his leadership, American communities are safer,” Mullin said.

“We wish him luck on his next opportunity in the private sector. His last day is May 31, 2026.”

Statement to @FoxNews via DHS Secretary Mullin:

“Director Lyons has been a great leader of ICE and key player in helping the Trump administration remove murderers, rapists, pedophiles, terrorists, and gang members from American communities. He jumpstarted an agency that had not…

— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) April 17, 2026

The resignation comes as ICE continues high-volume enforcement actions nationwide, with Homan and the Trump administration vowing to press forward despite opposition from sanctuary cities and activist groups.

Lyons has not issued additional public comments on the harassment beyond his internal memo referencing family time.

The post WATCH: Tom Homan Says Outgoing ICE Director Todd Lyons’ Wife and Kids Were Doxxed, Family Home Protested by Insane Leftists Before His Retirement appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Following the leak of the Dobbs draft, liberal Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan reportedly screamed “so loudly” at then-Justice Stephen Breyer that the “wall was shaking.”

A draft of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade was leaked to Politico’s senior legal reporter Josh Gerstein in May 2022.

Via Politico at the time of the leak: “The Supreme Court has voted to strike down the landmark Roe v. Wade decision, according to an initial draft majority opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito circulated inside the court and obtained by POLITICO.”

Justice Alito’s opinion is a “full-throated, unflinching repudiation” Politico said.

A year later, conservative justice Alito came out and said the draft leak “made us targets of assassination.”

According author and Fox News contributor Mollie Hemingway’s new book, “Alito,” Kagan confronted Breyer in May shortly after the Dobbs draft leak. The Supreme Court issued its decision on Roe v Wade in late June.

Alito had reportedly told his liberal colleagues to hurry up and finish writing their dissents because of an increase in security risks and death threats shortly after the Dobbs draft leaked.

Hemingway said Breyer was going to comply with Alito’s request.

Kagan literally wanted to delay the release of the Supreme Court’s opinion amid death threats against her conservative colleages.

“Though he had not said he would accommodate the justices whose lives were at risk by getting out a dissent, [Breyer] was the member of the liberal bloc most willing to do so,” Hemingway wrote, according to Fox News. “Fiercely liberal in his jurisprudence and in strong disagreement with the majority decision, he nevertheless was a gentleman and a friend to all on the Court. Kagan remonstrated with Breyer not to accommodate the majority, screaming so loudly, observers noted, that the ‘wall was shaking.’”

Fox News reported:

Justice Elena Kagan’s frustrations boiled over in the aftermath of the Dobbs opinion leak in 2022, leading her to allegedly scream “so loudly” at Justice Stephen Breyer that the “wall was shaking,” observers said, according to a new book.

Conservative author and Fox News contributor Mollie Hemingway’s forthcoming book “Alito,” reviewed by Fox News Digital and set for release Tuesday, details the incident and other heated moments surrounding the leak, which spurred waves of protests and death threats against the five conservative justices expected to overturn Roe that year.

The Supreme Court’s deep division on abortion was clear at the time, but the book reveals that a typically unified liberal bloc was also fractured.

Hemingway wrote that Kagan, an Obama appointee, angrily confronted Breyer, a Clinton appointee, in May 2022 behind closed doors after at least one justice, Samuel Alito, had asked his liberal colleagues to speed up writing their dissent because of security threats. Breyer was most likely to agree to Alito’s request, Hemingway wrote.

In 2023, the Supreme Court issued a report on the Dobbs draft leak.

The report says the leaker could not be found and that new protocols for drafts have been put in place.

97 Supreme Court staffers were interviewed and signed sworn affidavits under penalty of perjury denying being the Dobbs draft leaker.

Justice Alito said despite this report, he likely knows who the leaker is.

Alito said the leaker’s motive was to stop the Supreme Court from overturning Roe v Wade.

Elena Kagan is a psychopath. At the very moment conservative justices were at risk of being assassinated following the Dobbs leak (but before its official release), Kagan tried to delay the release of the opinion. Maybe in the hopes one of her colleagues would be murdered and the…

— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) April 18, 2026

The post BOOK: Liberal Justice Kagan Screamed “So Loudly” at Justice Breyer After Dobbs Draft Leak that the ‘Wall Was Shaking’ appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.