Trump's $300M ballroom has reportedly destroyed at least 6 trees on the White House grounds including 2 commemorating Harding and Roosevelt

Donald Trump has been facing criticism after he began making renovations to the White House and demolished the East Wing to build a ballroom. According to ABC News, satellite images showed that the $300 million project has led to the taking down of at least six trees.

Some of these trees were even considered historic in nature. According to reports, two magnolia trees commemorating Presidents Warren G. Harding and Franklin D. Roosevelt were chopped down. On Thursday, satellite photos popped up that showed the fullest image of the demolition that had happened to the East Wing of the White House. 

ABC News further reported that preliminary construction work to build the ballroom had already begun sometime back. Preparations have started happening on the land where the ballroom is set to be built. The reports suggested that the project was set to start in September and finish before Trump's tenure as president ends.

In 1922, First Lady Florence Harding planted one magnolia tree in remembrance of Warren G. Harding. According to the National Park Service, this magnolia tree was planted on the northeast of the entrance to the original 1902 East Wing. In 1947, the tree was replanted, and in the 1950s, it was re-designated as a commemorative tree.

The second magnolia tree honoring Franklin D. Roosevelt was planned on the southeast of the entrance to the newly constructed East Wing. 

An emergency motion has been filed against President Donald Trump over the ongoing White House renovation

As previously mentioned, Donald Trump is getting heavily scrutinized over his decision to build a ballroom after demolishing the East Wing. Many took to the internet and voiced their concerns about the same, with some believing that this step was just destroying the White House. Meanwhile, a couple from Virginia filed an emergency motion.

According to reports by Fox 5, the purpose of the motion is to stop Trump's decision to tear down the East Wing. The motion further claimed that the multi-million dollar project lacks proper planning and approvals. The defendant list includes President Trump as well as National Park Service director Jessica Brown.

According to the emergency motion, the defendants are apparently not abiding by the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) of 1966. This means that they failed to evaluate the historic property and analyze the impact of the project on the property. The Virginia couple sought a temporary restraining order to ensure halting the demolition as of now, until all the requirements are met.

As per the reports by the outlet, it is now on a federal judge to decide whether a temporary restraining order should be issued. Meanwhile, the White House had been negating the accusations being thrown at the President. On Friday, a White House spokesperson told Newsweek that the president has "full legal authority to modernize, renovate, and beautify" the White House.

Despite much scrutiny, Trump has also received immense support on social media. Many netizens highlighted that Trump was not the only US president who ordered the renovations of the White House. These netizens claimed that a lot of massive renovations have happened in the past.