Trump calls White House ballroom foes ‘treasonists’ following Supreme Court plea

"Treasonists" is not a word, and calling a preservationist nonprofit guilty of it because they filed a lawsuit over a construction project is the kind of overstatement that does Trump no favors. The group in question is suing over process, whether the East Wing ballroom plans skipped required historic preservation review, not staging a coup. Whatever you think of their case, disagreeing with a construction permit is not treason, and every time the White House reaches for that word it cheapens what the word is supposed to mean.

That said, the underlying fight is worth having on the merits. If the administration followed the proper review process, say so and show the paperwork. If it didn't, that's a legitimate legal problem, and taking it to the Supreme Court on an emergency basis suggests someone thinks the lower courts got it wrong or that time pressure justifies skipping the normal appellate ladder. Neither of those is scandalous. Presidents renovate the White House; fights over how happen constantly, usually without anyone getting called an enemy of the state.

The "top military secrets" claim is the part that actually deserves scrutiny, not the name-calling. If a nonprofit suing over historic preservation somehow surfaced sensitive security information, that's a real story with real stakes, and it should be run down seriously rather than tossed off as a rhetorical flourish in a Friday night post. Conflating a policy dispute with espionage does the opposite of building the case; it makes people assume there's nothing there.

We'd rather see the administration win this fight in court on the facts than win the news cycle with an insult. The ballroom might get built either way. The word "treason" doesn't get cheaper by accident.