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Trump Lawyer Argues Trump Can Tear Down Statue of Liberty

Josh Marshall:

In a hearing today about the president’s bulldozing of the East Wing of the White House and plans to build a vast ballroom, a judge asked if the president could also bulldoze the Statue of Liberty and be subject to no legal challenge. The DOJ lawyer, Yaakov Roth, said that yes, President Trump could decide tomorrow to bulldoze the Statue of Liberty and no one could stop him.

It was a good question from DC Court of Appeals Judge Patricia Millett since it brings the arguments and their implications clearly into the open. Reframe the question and the absurdity of this proposition becomes even more clear. If you hire someone to administer your estate, can they burn down the buildings on your estate or chop it up into parcels and sell it off? Presumably not. You hired them to run it, not to destroy it or sell it. It’s not theirs. They were hired for a specific task. That person is your employee. The president is hired to administer the country and enforce its laws for four years. He doesn’t own the country or its properties.

Pathetic lickspittles, one and all.

★ Saturday, 6 June 2026