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Mohammed, 8, cries next to the coffin of his father, Hussein Makkah, during the funeral of 13 state security officers killed the previous day in an Israeli strike in Lebanon’s coastal city of Sidon, Lebanon, Saturday, April 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

The Trump administration is arguing that a judge’s order to halt construction of a $400 million ballroom creates a security risk for the president. It is asking a federal appeals court to pause the ruling. In an emergency motion filed Friday, National Park Service lawyers say that order to suspend construction of the new facility was “threatening grave national-security harms to the White House, the President and his family, and the President’s staff.” U.S. District Judge Richard Leon in Washington last week ordered that unless Congress approves the project, which has included demolishing the East Wing of the White House, it must be put on pause.

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Israel's Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, center, and lawmakers celebrate after Israel's parliament passed a law approving the death penalty for Palestinians convicted of murdering Israelis, at the Knesset in Jerusalem Monday, March 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Itay Cohen)

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People dressed in orange prison jumpsuits and wearing masks of Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir gather to demonstrate against the ongoing war with Iran, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Thursday, March 19, 2026. Boards read in Hebrew: "Iran is an asset" and "Terror is an asset. (AP Photo/Maya Levin)