A U.S. appeals court ruled Friday that President Donald Trump must obtain approval from Congress before moving forward with his plan to build a large ballroom on the White House grounds, at the site where the East Wing of the presidential residence previously stood.

The decision was issued in a 2-1 ruling, with the judges determining that a project of such magnitude falls under Congress’ authority and cannot be carried out solely through executive action.

In its ruling, the court sided with the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the organization that filed the lawsuit seeking to halt the construction. The judges found that the plaintiffs had convincingly demonstrated that Congress had never granted the executive branch the authority to “redesign or rebuild the White House, the People’s House, to satisfy the wishes of any particular president.”

Following the decision, Trump announced that he would appeal the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court, calling the decision incorrect.

“We will immediately appeal it to the Supreme Court,” the president wrote in a message posted on his social media platforms.

Advertisement

20260804_vacaciones_728x90px

20260101_dengue_cubeta_728x90

20260101_dengue_barril_728x90

20260101_dengue_llanta_728x90

20260101_dengue_pileta_728x90

20260224_estafa_mh_728x90

20260212_constancia_pagos_mh_728x90

20250901_vacunacion_vsr-728x90

20250901_minsal_tetra_-728x90

20250701_vacunacion-influenza-728x90

20250701_vacunacion_vph-728x90

20250715_donacion_sangre_central_728x90

20231124_etesal_728x90_1

20230601_agenda_primera_infancia_728X90

domfuturo_netview-728x90

20240604_dom_728x90

CEL

Trump also argued that the ruling could pose a security risk to the presidential complex, claiming that it threatens the safety of White House employees, future workers, visitors, heads of state, and other dignitaries.

The president has repeatedly said that the project would not require taxpayer funding and that its financing would come from private donations by business leaders close to his administration, including Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.

However, a previous estimate published by The Washington Post placed the project’s cost at approximately $600 million and suggested that nearly half of the funding could come from public resources, contradicting Trump’s claims.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Friday that the Cuban government will not find a way out of the pressure campaign imposed by Washington and warned that waiting for the end of President Donald Trump’s second term will not change the situation for the island.

In an interview with U.S. outlet Axios, Rubio said the American administration will continue blocking any mechanisms Cuba uses to ease the impact of sanctions and other measures implemented by Washington.

Rubio argued that Havana can no longer rely on the possibility that time will bring a change in U.S. policy.

“Without a doubt, this situation is not going to disappear in the next two and a half years,” Rubio said, referring to the remaining period of Trump’s current term.

The U.S. official also said Cuba is facing an increasingly difficult scenario following the capture of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro by U.S. forces in January. According to Rubio, the event led to new restrictions on oil supplies to the island, worsening Cuba’s economic and energy crisis.

Advertisement

20260804_vacaciones_728x90px

20260101_dengue_cubeta_728x90

20260101_dengue_barril_728x90

20260101_dengue_llanta_728x90

20260101_dengue_pileta_728x90

20260224_estafa_mh_728x90

20260212_constancia_pagos_mh_728x90

20250901_vacunacion_vsr-728x90

20250901_minsal_tetra_-728x90

20250701_vacunacion-influenza-728x90

20250701_vacunacion_vph-728x90

20250715_donacion_sangre_central_728x90

20231124_etesal_728x90_1

20230601_agenda_primera_infancia_728X90

domfuturo_netview-728x90

20240604_dom_728x90

CEL

Rubio’s comments come amid continued tensions between Washington and Havana, with the U.S. government maintaining its policy of sanctions and diplomatic pressure on the Cuban authorities.

A German court on Thursday sentenced an Afghan man to life imprisonment for a 2025 attack in which he drove a vehicle into a trade union demonstration in Munich, killing two people and injuring around 40 others.

The Munich Higher Regional Court ruled that the 25-year-old man, identified only as Fahrad N. under German privacy laws, committed a particularly serious crime.

Presiding judge Michael Höhne said the court was convinced that the defendant deliberately drove his vehicle into the protesters from behind. He described the scene of the attack as a “real field of destruction.”

The verdict followed the request of federal prosecutors, while the defense had sought a 15-year prison sentence and admission to a psychiatric hospital.

Fahrad N. was convicted of two counts of murder and 23 counts of attempted murder, one more charge than prosecutors had requested. He was also found guilty of 19 counts of serious bodily harm and three counts of intentional injury.

Advertisement

20260804_vacaciones_728x90px

20260101_dengue_cubeta_728x90

20260101_dengue_barril_728x90

20260101_dengue_llanta_728x90

20260101_dengue_pileta_728x90

20260224_estafa_mh_728x90

20260212_constancia_pagos_mh_728x90

20250901_vacunacion_vsr-728x90

20250901_minsal_tetra_-728x90

20250701_vacunacion-influenza-728x90

20250701_vacunacion_vph-728x90

20250715_donacion_sangre_central_728x90

20231124_etesal_728x90_1

20230601_agenda_primera_infancia_728X90

domfuturo_netview-728x90

20240604_dom_728x90

CEL

The attack occurred on February 13, 2025, as Munich prepared to welcome international leaders attending the Munich Security Conference, while Germany was entering the final stage of its parliamentary election campaign.

That morning, around 1,400 people were marching through the city center in a demonstration organized by the services union Verdi. According to investigators, the Afghan national drove a BMW Mini past police officers escorting the march before intentionally crashing into the crowd.

The vehicle traveled approximately 23 meters before coming to a stop.

Fahrad N., who was interested in bodybuilding, arrived in Germany at the age of 15 as an unaccompanied minor and had his residence permit renewed. Authorities had previously considered him “well integrated” into local society.

Investigators said he later became radicalized under the influence of Afghan clerics he followed on social media in the months before the attack.

Advertisement

20260804_vacaciones_728x90px

20260101_dengue_cubeta_728x90

20260101_dengue_barril_728x90

20260101_dengue_llanta_728x90

20260101_dengue_pileta_728x90

20260224_estafa_mh_728x90

20260212_constancia_pagos_mh_728x90

20250901_vacunacion_vsr-728x90

20250901_minsal_tetra_-728x90

20250701_vacunacion-influenza-728x90

20250701_vacunacion_vph-728x90

20250715_donacion_sangre_central_728x90

20231124_etesal_728x90_1

20230601_agenda_primera_infancia_728X90

domfuturo_netview-728x90

20240604_dom_728x90

CEL

According to prosecutors, the defendant believed Western countries were responsible for the suffering of Muslim populations in Afghanistan and the Middle East, and concluded that he should “kill randomly selected people in Germany.”