Chief Justice Roberts has before him the request from President Trump to stay the order halting construction at the White House, including its below-ground national security facilities, the ballroom above ground, and whatever is intend for the roof (drone defenses perhaps?) We don’t know and should not know how the White House is defended from all threats, or what is in the building —or under it or over it. Justice Roberts requested the Trust’s response, due by noon (EDT) on Tuesday, August 18, 2026 I hope the Chief Justice stays the D.C. Circuit order Tuesday by COB and makes it clear that construction may continue until and unless the Supreme Court orders it halted. Not only are there the standing issues that should have barred the Trust from getting to the merits as President Trump noted yesterday, but the heart of the debate is presidential authority over the Executive Mansion and its related grounds and other structures related to the role of Commander-in-Chief. This is not a close case. A terse opinion may follow on the ongoing, urgent need to allow this president and all future presidents authority over their home/office/national security facilities within that area as well as associated areas such as Camp David. To ignore the rapidly evolving threats to the White House and any facility used frequently by any president against this reality would be reckless beyond reason and defy common sense. Judge Rao’s dissent from the D.C. Circuit decision is persuasive but it is too long. The idea that there has to be a process to change the White House facilities (or Camp David or any national security facility threatened by continually changing capabilities of the country’s enemies) is ridiculous and should be declared so in short, sharp sentences aimed at restoring common sense to the country’s awareness of the threats it faces. The backdrop to this case is not just repeated attempts on the lives of this and other presidents, but also rapidly evolving surveillance technology that has to be countered, and of course the astonishing evolution of the threats from drones and hypersonic missiles over the past three years. This president and future presidents should not be hindered in securing their homes, offices and national security facilities from a threat matrix that has soared off the charts. Imagine the consequences of a state sponsor of terror successfully targeting the White House if necessary defenses that would have deflected the attack are not in place because of this ridiculous litigation. TDS has spread far and wide, but while the hard left in this country (and the terror-based regimes which align with the objectives of the radicals) would love to see a Commander-in-Chief denied authority over his command structures and defense of his residence, the Supreme Court should move quickly to end this circus.