Dan Diamond

Trump says it’s ‘too late’ to stop White House ballroom construction The president’s comments came after Justice Department lawyers argued that the ballroom plans can still be modified and they plan to wait for federal reviews.

Trump today declared on Truth Social it is "TOO LATE!" to stop White House ballroom construction.

DOJ lawyers have been arguing something very different: that the plans are flexible and they’re complying with a federal review process.

A federal judge is weighing whether to halt Trump’s project.

First Lady Melania Trump, the film’s director Brett Ratner and other attendees have posted photos from last night’s White House event. Apple CEO Tim Cook, motivational speaker Tony Robbins and retired boxer Mike Tyson were among the guests.

A split screen tonight:

Minnesota shooting videos going viral online, as Trump hosts VIP screening of “Melania”

White House Holding VIP ‘Melania’ Screening Ahead of Doc Premiere With Mike Tyson, Tim Cook, Andy Jassy and More (Exclusive) Sources say nobody outside of Melania Trump, director Brett Ratner and a very small group of their associates has yet seen the movie, including the president and his advisors, who are seeing it Saturd...

One note on this article, which says “the usual White House screening room in the East Wing has been *shut down* to construct the Trump ballroom.”

More accurately - the White House movie theater was demolished when Trump tore down the East Wing.

The event, which has not been promoted or advertised, is taking place in the East Room of the White House on Saturday. Guests include director Brett Ratner; Queen Rania of Jordan; Zoom CEO Eric Yuan; Apple CEO Tim Cook; New York Stock Exchange CEO Lynn Martin; AMD CEO Linsa Su; Mike Tyson; socialite and Fiat heiress Azzi Agnelli; self-help guru Tony Robbins; and photographer Ellen von Unwerth, who shot the movie poster for the film.

Barron Trump and Ratner's mother will also be on hand, along with Mike Hopkins of Amazon Studios, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy and Marc Beckman, a senior adviser and longtime manager to the First Lady who was reportedly involved in every aspect of the project. Since the usual White House screening room in the East Wing has been shut down to construct the Trump ballroom, Melania built a make-shift theater, with state of the art sound and film equipment (overseen by Ratner himself), and a giant movie screen brought in for the occasion.

On tonight’s White House agenda:

Trump and guests will get a private screening of MELANIA, the documentary about the First Lady, @thr.com reports.

Attendees include Apple CEO Tim Cook, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, Mike Tyson, per the article.

Federal judge questions Trump’s authority to build White House ballroom Judge Richard Leon focused on whether the Trump administration’s use of private donations to fund the $400 million project was an “end run” around Congress.

NEW: Federal judge questions if Trump is legally allowed to build his ballroom

“Where do you see the authority for the president to tear down the East Wing and build something in its place?” Judge Richard Leon told DOJ lawyers this afternoon

More w @jonathanreports.bsky.social

Another example of bipartisan concerns: Here’s @aoc.bsky.social now pushing the CEO of CVS Health on the company’s own acquisitions.

CVS CEO: I’d suggest it’s a model that works really well for the consumer.

AOC: I think it works very well for CVS … the patient gets screwed.

Stopped by the House hearing with health insurance CEOs, where both GOP and Dems have pressed the companies on their practices and profits.

Here's Rep. John Joyce (R-Pennsylvania) pushing UnitedHealthcare's CEO on its vertical integration — the acquisition of doctors, through its Optum arm.

White House fences off park as Trump begins new building project Officials said Lafayette Square, the public park next to the White House, will be improved as part of Trump’s America 250 celebration.

Trump has begun another building project: overhauling Lafayette Square, the public park outside the White House.

Workers have fenced off the park. Project is expected to run through May.

w @oliviacgeorge.bsky.social

Washington Post demands government return materials seized from reporter The Post demanded in a court filing Wednesday that federal law enforcement officials return electronic devices the government seized from a staff reporter’s home.

The Post demands government return materials seized from @hannahnatanson.bsky.social.

WaPo: “The outrageous seizure of our reporter’s confidential newsgathering materials chills speech, cripples reporting, and inflicts irreparable harm every day the government keeps its hands on these materials.”

[Walking with my three-year-old down 14th St in DC, which has been shut down by police. We hear protesters in distance.]

TODDLER: What are they mad about, daddy?

ME: I don't know, sweetie. It could be a lot of things.

TODDLER, THINKING: Maybe it's dinosaurs.

Have covered the Trump-Cassidy dynamic this past year, and how Cassidy (the Senate health chairman) first boosted RFK Jr and then reined in his criticism to avoid a direct confrontation with the admin.

He still lost Trump’s endorsement.

Bill Cassidy, M.D. O @BillCassidy X.com Congresswoman Letlow called me this morning to say she was running. She said she respected me and that I had done a good job. I will continue to do a good job when I win re-election. I am a conservative who wakes up every morning thinking about how to make Louisiana and the United States a better place to live.

Bill Cassidy spent the last year trying to work his way back into Trump’s good graces.

Now he has a challenger - Rep. Letlow - who has been endorsed by Trump.

Measles cases in South Carolina explode to 558, state officials say South Carolina reported nearly 250 new measles cases this week, official figures showed on Friday, bringing the total of confirmed infections to 558 since October as the threat of a wider outbreak inc...

The number of confirmed #measles cases in South Carolina has hit an astonishing 558 in an outbreak that started in October. For context: that is more cases in 4 months than the entire US racked up most years in the past 30+ years. www.reuters.com/business/hea...

Wasn’t sure anyone would see this article (or care to read it) when we published at 1 am on a Saturday morning. Gratified to be wrong.

“When I traveled to Denmark this month, I found there was still fidelity to principles that seem to have vanished from the American government’s calculations, namely a sense of mutual obligation and basic morality."

Read @isaacstanleybecker.bsky.social’s terrific piece here →

The Trump administration's designs on Greenland have forced European leaders to speak openly about the possible end of NATO. "If the United States attacks another NATO country, everything stops," Denmark's prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, warned recently. A military strike by the alliance's most powerful member would make its promise of common defense obsolete-and risk the outbreak of World War III. It's a bewildering possibility for the Danes, who see the United States as their most important ally, the country that ushered them into the NATO pact and guaranteed their security for nearly 80 years. Denmark is small, with a population of just 6 million. But it has tried to uphold its end of the bargain. It lost more soldiers per capita than the United States did in Afghanistan. In all, there were 43 deaths, a sacrifice that Danes accepted as the cost of their international obligations. Sophia was the first female soldier to fall in combat in Danish history, her death a ripple effect of the September 11 attacks, the first time that NATO's mutual-defense clause was invoked. Triggering Article 5 obligated U.S. allies to assist, including by sending soldiers like Sophia to fight. This time, if Article 5 is invoked, the United States might be the aggressor.

"Denmark is small… But it has tried to uphold its end of the bargain. It lost more soldiers per capita than the United States did in Afghanistan."

@isaacstanleybecker.bsky.social on the bewilderment of the Danes, as Trump threatens their country over Greenland.

“Leave Greenland alone!”

Heckler interrupts Star-Spangled Banner at NBA game in London, wins cheers from crowd. (Video via Reddit)

Asked some White House historians: has a president ever issued an executive order related to a football game’s TV rights before?

“This is not what other presidents have been focused on or, even more, used their authority for,” @zelizer.bsky.social told The Post.

HHS Gave a $1.6 Million Grant to a Controversial Vaccine Study. These Emails Show How That Happened Two Danish researchers faced accusations of “questionable research practices” as RFK Jr.’s top appointees made their study a “funding priority.”

How sad is this? The CDC closed its FOIA office, so this story could only be published because a Danish journalist provided Rolling Stone with the documents, after obtaining them through a freedom of information request to the University of Southern Denmark

www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...

Trump will order TV networks to ‘protect’ Army-Navy football game The broadcast window for the military academies’ rivalry game, typically held on a Saturday in December, is threatened by College Football Playoff expansion.

Stayed up late to understand: why did Trump just order TV networks to "protect" the Army-Navy football game?

Answer: a scheduling fight sparked by College Football Playoff expansion.

(But Trump's planned executive order is probably illegal, multiple experts said.)

Would love to know what the many Danish-Americans in Minnesota are thinking these days

Donald J. Trump *+ @realDonaldTrump The Army-Navy Game is one of our Greatest American Traditions - Unmatched Patriotism, Courage, and Honor! This incredible Tradition is now at risk of being pushed aside by more College Playoff Games, and Big TV Money. NOT ANYMORE! Under my Administration, the second Saturday in December belongs to Army-Navy, and ONLY Army-Navy! I will soon sign a Historic Executive Order securing an EXCLUSIVE 4 hour Broadcast window, so this National Event stands above Commercial Postseason Games. No other Game or Team can violate this Time Slot!!! On the field, they are rivals, but on the battlefield they are America's unstoppable Patriots, defending our Country with tremendous Strength and Heart. We must protect the Tradition, and the Players, who protect us. Please let this serve as Notice to ALL Television Networks, Stations, and Outlets. God Bless America, and God Bless our great Army-Navy Game!!! President Donald J. Trump

If you’re a telecom lawyer with perspective on President Trump’s planned order on the Army-Navy football game broadcast, would love to hear from you.

Can find me at Dan_Diamond.01 on signal or Dan.Diamond@WashPost.com.

All credit to Hannah, an incredible colleague who has been doing exceptional work.

Thinking about the time Kankakee, Connecticut was rated the worst city in which to live in the US, so David Letterman gave them a gazebo. But then that wasn’t enough to get them promoted, and he gave them a second gazebo. So they could be “Kankakee, Connecticut: The Home of the Twin Gazebos.”

I am The Post’s ‘federal government whisperer.’ It’s been brutal. One reporter’s effort to show how Trump was transforming government brought her 1,168 new sources — and nearly broke her.

My colleague @hannahnatanson.bsky.social was in the news this week.

If you haven’t read Hannah’s piece on how she became The Post’s “federal government whisperer,” I strongly recommend it — a glimpse inside her year, and our newsroom, as we raced to cover Trump’s new government.

(Gift link)

Trump spent much of today’s White House event touting his proposal as a way to address high costs.

Trump also talked about how he came up with the name in the Oval Office.

“And I said, how about just call it … The, Great, Healthcare Plan.”

“We have a very glamorous name.”

We’re also about an hour into this event, and Trump has not made the promised “major announcement” yet.

Trump claims the media is “not writing” about his drug-price deals “because it's me… also because it's Republican … they should be ashamed.“

This isn’t true. We’ve written about every one of his drug-price deals — sometimes multiple stories. Here’s a sampling. Many other outlets have covered too.

I’m fine. I told them repeatedly that I stood by the story and if they felt that way, I welcomed their tweet.