Trump taken to court over plans to redo park with 'barren' MLK Memorial
Yet another of President Donald Trump's plans to transform Washington, D.C., in his own image has been hit with a lawsuit by preservation groups — this time over his plans to transform West Potomac Park, an area that includes several memorials, including the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial.
Trump has plans to create what he calls a "National Garden of American Heroes" on the site, which has raised alarms about whether his renovations will respect the current memorials at the site.
According to Meidas Touch's Scott MacFarlane, the lawsuit cites the cost overruns of Trump's other recent projects, like the White House ballroom and the cleaning and repainting of the Reflecting Pool, which has already seen a resurgence of algae. The plaintiffs also argue that the changes would reduce the recreational use of the park.
Above all, the suit argues, the project was illegal without consent from Congress, noting that Interior Secretary Doug Burgum's "announcement of West Potomac Park as the site of the garden complex was definitive and not conditioned on congressional approval."
The suit further cites as proof of urgency for court action the recent comments by Trump administration legal counsel that the government could bulldoze the Statue of Liberty and there would be nothing courts could do about it as long as they did it so quickly it was too late to enjoin the work.
Trump, for his part, has championed the new garden as a "magnificent exhibition," saying of the park on social media, "Right now, it is a totally BARREN field of Prime Waterfront Real Estate along our Mighty Potomac River."
All of this comes days after the Trump administration was forced by court order to take the president's name off the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
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