Transcript

Trump BLINDSIDED by JUDGE over Ballroom FROM HELL

From MeidasTouch · Episode page · Watch on YouTube

January 24, 2026 · 12 min · 2,089 words · 15 timestamped sections

This is the full, timestamped transcript of "Trump BLINDSIDED by JUDGE over Ballroom FROM HELL", an episode of MeidasTouch published January 24, 2026 (12 min, about 2,089 words). It mentions 8 people, works and ideas, including Donald Trump, Legal AF, Michael Popach, National Trust, Minus Touch Network.

What this episode is about

A federal judge is poised to issue a stop work order on Donald Trump's controversial ballroom construction project, which has raised legal concerns due to its lack of congressional oversight and potential misuse of funds. The situation escalates with revelations of a secret slush fund allegedly created to bypass judicial scrutiny, as the Trump administration contends with ongoing legal challenges regarding the project's approval.

Key takeaways

Only in Trump's world do ballrooms and bunkers coexist—as assets, not liabilities.
A 'secret slush fund' sounds like a spy novel plot, but it’s just Trump being Trump.
Comparing Trump's ballroom to Ford's pool is like equating a yacht to a rubber dinghy.
When building a 90,000 sq ft addition, maybe Congress should get a peek at the blueprint?
Why rent when you can renovate—unless you're just adding a secret bunker beneath your ballroom?

Who speaks in this episode?

Michael Popach (Host) · 11 min speaking
Donald Trump (Guest) · 1 min speaking
Judge Leon (Guest) · 1 min speaking

What is discussed, and when

0:00 – 3:00: Donald Trump, National Trust, Legal AF, Michael Popach
3:00 – 6:00: Donald Trump, President Gerald Ford
6:00 – 9:00: Donald Trump, Legal AF, Brett Leon, National Trust
9:00 – 11:44: Legal AF, Donald Trump, Michael Popach, Minus Touch Network

Notable quotes from "Trump BLINDSIDED by JUDGE over Ballroom FROM HELL"

I'm Michael Popach. You're on the Midas Touch Network and Legal AF. big hearing in front of Judge Leon, a federal judge appointed by Bush, who pulled everybody together to.
about Michael Popach · at 0:43
Department of Justice and stopped him in his tracks when he said, This is just like when Gerald Ford, the president in 1977 put in a pool, your honor. Stop.
about President Gerald Ford · at 3:16
I'm doing a magnificent big beautiful ballroom that the country has wanted, the White House has wanted for 150 years. It's a massive job and it's a tiny fraction of that number. And we're.
about Donald Trump · at 5:49
Months now and I've really noticed how much smoother and healthier my skin feels overall. One Skin is known for cult favorite formulas like OS1 Body, OS1 Face, and OS1 Eye. All…
about OneSkin · at 7:05
The appeal related to it here on the Midas Touch Network and on Legal AF. I'm glad you're here. Come over to Legal AF and hit the free subscribe button there as well and our…
about Legal AF · at 10:45

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

Donald Trump — Person · Primary referenced subject · 8 mentions · first at 0:05
Central figure accused/criticized in the segment for allegedly attempting to build a White House ballroom and rebuild a bunker while avoiding congressional and judicial oversight via funding maneuvers.
Michael Popach — Person · Host / main speaker · 3 mentions · first at 0:43
Narrates and analyzes the court hearing and alleged funding/oversight issues, framing the story for the audience on the Midas Touch Network / Legal AF.
Brett Leon — Person · Referenced judge / decision-maker · 2 mentions · first at 0:44
Federal judge presiding over the hearing on a preliminary injunction that could halt vertical construction pending congressional approval; portrayed as skeptical of DOJ comparisons and funding structure.
Now, about a month and a half ago on a temporary restraining order, the judge says, No, I'm not going to stop the below ground construction. But the vertical construction, building the building, the 90,000 foot monstrosity.
President Gerald Ford — Person · Historical comparison figure · 1 mention · first at 3:20
Invoked by DOJ counsel as an analogy (Ford installing a pool) that the judge rejects as inapt compared to a major White House addition and bunker work.

Companies & orgs

National Trust — Company · Case study · 4 mentions · first at 1:01
Representing the American people in a legal case against the Trump administration regarding the construction of a ballroom and bunker at the White House.
Stop continued construction of the ballroom until Donald Trump gets congressional approval. The National Trust on behalf of the American people and the people's house brought the case.
Minus Touch Network — Company · Business focus · 2 mentions · first at 0:43
The network hosting the podcast or show 'Legal AF', mentioned as the platform for the discussion.
The appeal related to it here on the Midas Touch Network and on Legal AF. I'm glad you're here. Come over to Legal AF and hit the free subscribe button there as well and our…

Products & tech

Legal AF — Product · Broadcast · 5 mentions · first at 0:43
A podcast or show within the Midas Touch Network, mentioned as the platform where the discussion is taking place.

Full transcript with timestamps

0:00 Yes, a federal judge looks like he's about to hit the stop work order button about the golden ballroom Donald Trump is building without taxpayer funds, without congressional oversight, and trying to figure out a way to get out from under federal judge oversight. I don't think it's working. But what really came out of the story is something that seems to have gotten missed in the media reports. He's rebuilding a secret bunker under the East Wing, now Ballroom. Yep, you heard me right. and he might be using a secret slush fund that he created in order to avoid judicial oversight, a bunker, money laundering, and I just thought we were going to talk about the ballroom.

0:43 I'm Michael Popach. You're on the Midas Touch Network and Legal AF. big hearing in front of Judge Leon, a federal judge appointed by Bush, who pulled everybody together to consider a preliminary injunction to stop continued construction of the ballroom until Donald Trump gets congressional approval. The National Trust on behalf of the American people and the people's house brought the case. Now, about a month and a half ago on a temporary restraining order, the judge says, "No, I'm not going to stop the below ground construction." But the vertical construction, building the building, the 90,000 foot monstrosity now pushing $400 to $500 million, which is going to dwarf the 55,000 square foot White House next door that it's attached to. Um, that's a different story. And he said, "You better get the approvals. You better go through all of your uh uh different agencies and committees and commissions and get to back to

1:41 Congress." Well, the Trump administration doesn't want to do that. So they created what I'm going to call a secret slush fund that we now know about. See, the money was with the park service, which was under the jurisdiction of courts and ultimately of Congress. But Donald Trump had the money transferred from the park service to a secret fund in the White House you and I probably never heard of before called the executive residence office, an executive residence bank account. Yes, Donald Trump opened up a bank account, funded it with our money out of the park service. It was originally from donors that went to the park service park service into the executive resident's office. You see the money laundering and then he has what he thinks is complete control. Now it got questioned in court by the judge and by the lawyers for the national trust. Why is the executive residence staff handling being the

2:34 general contractor for this major Washington DC project at the people's house? How are they qualified to do that? And by the way, Donald Trump is not a builder. Donald Trump is he erects things. He erects his name on top of buildings built by other people. He does a lot of licensing agreements. He rarely builds buildings. He renovates buildings. I think the last major building he built was like 25 years ago. Okay? Other people build the building. He's not the general contractor. And so when you're not the general contractor, you just put your name on things. you don't really know how to build a ballroom with a secured bunker underneath. Now, that came up as well as Judge Leyon told uh the lawyer for the Department of Justice and stopped him in his tracks when he said, "This is just like when Gerald Ford, the president in 1977 put in a pool, your honor. Stop.

3:25 Stop. You're comparing, he said, you're comparing the Gerald Ford pool, swimming pool, or the Melania Trump tennis court to what you're doing in demolishing the East Wing and building a 90,000 square foot addition uh with a bunker underneath it that you're those two things are equivalent to you. Ridiculous. He basically said ridiculous. He said you need to go to Congress. And and the judge questioned, why are we even why is there even a delay? Um he said the president's got both the House and the Senate. go to Congress. Oh, they said, "Well, then we'll have to use public money." That's not true. You can go get oversight without having to take public money.

4:03 They could say the fund is whatever the fund is you got from your secret, not so secret donors. So, so it looks to me based on the arguments that were raised that the judge is not going to allow vertical construction any longer and he's going to force Trump to go back to Congress. Now, he might have the votes. you know, you see all the things that are being shoved down our throats by this Congress. Um, but uh just just to rem remind you of these ridiculous comparisons, let's talk about the secret bunker underneath. Now, there was a bunker already apparently under the White House. There has been since 1941 with Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who of course understandably freaked out after Pearl Harbor and said, "We need a hardened bunker underneath the White House. It's like a submarine built in the 1940s." I'm not sure it would survive many of the new munitions, but it it has been under there. Um, it has

4:55 been known uh it's the um the presidential emergency operations center, the PIO. So, they're building a new PIO. All right. Good for them. All right. And I Yeah, I don't want to know the details of it because I don't want the details out to our enemies, even with this president in the office. But that is not an excuse. you what you know if he had come to the American people and said, "Listen, I need a better hardened bunker for command and control underneath the White House and I got to tear down the old east wing to do it.

5:24 Oh, and by the way, I'm going to top it with a ballroom." That might have gone off a little bit better, but we need a golden ballroom because women are getting their feet stuck in the mud walking out to the tents that that were out there before for balls and dinners. That didn't really fly with the American people. In fact, here's Donald Trump talking about his ballroom and and drones and all sorts of other things without getting into the secret bunker. Play the clip.

5:49 I'm doing a magnificent big beautiful ballroom that the country has wanted, the White House has wanted for 150 years. It's a massive job and it's a tiny fraction of that number. And we're under budget and ahead of schedule now. It's it's bigger than I told you. I it's uh you know after realizing we're going to do the inauguration in that building. It's got all bulletproof glass. It's got all drone they call it drone free roof. The drones won't touch it. It's a big uh it's a big beautiful safe building but it's you know some big project for a tiny fraction of that. We're under budget and ahead of schedule and they've wanted it for 150 years. I am so over the whole new year, new me thing.

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8:17 Allahh Civil War, the movie. I don't know. We'll have to find out. Um but you know I I so again I don't challenge the need for an updated modern uh command and control center center hardened facility. You know we've got a few of them in in mountain sides around the country that are reasonably wellnown but you know president's not going to have a lot of time to get to one of those if he if the White House is under attack so to speak. So I get that. I just don't get the use of secret slush funds. why the executive office residence is the is the office that's doing the general contracting and neither does Judge Leon. Um, of course, they're doing it to hide it from the American people. Now, the lawyer for the Department of Justice told the judge it's because President Trump is very very uh interested uh and takes a personal interest in this project and so he really wants it all overseen. You

9:11 know, he's a detailed person. They're just like, "Yeah, I'm not buying that. let's turn it over to the park service and and the architects for the uh Washington DC that kind of know what they're doing, you know, in instead. So, here's what is likely to happen based on my take on the hearing. This judge in the next week or two is going to issue a a preliminary injunction to stop the vertical construction going up. not stop the bunker, the the top secret bunker, but stop the vertical construction until Donald Trump goes back to Congress. Then they can go fight it out. They can go take an appeal to the DC Court of Appeals. They can go to the Supreme Court. But I think their argument, which is we get to use money.

9:53 There's a statute that says presidents get to use money for the upkeep of the of the White House. That's not going to fly. Upkeep is not bunker reconstruction. It's not ballroom building. is not de demolition as the judge said of the East Wing that you have to go over to Congress or as it came up in the courthouse in the courtroom uh the lawyer for the National Trust the plaintiffs here said Trump's not the owner landlord of the White House although he acts like he is he's a temporary tenant with really just three years left on his lease and the judge said right he's just a steward of the people's money in the people's house temporarily Right. So, we'll follow the next steps here. Secret bunker, money laundering accounts, judge oversight, stop work order, and what Congress does next, and the appeal related to it here on the Midas Touch Network and on Legal AF. I'm glad you're here. Come over to Legal AF

10:53 and hit the free subscribe button there as well and our legal af stack where you can get 10 12 pieces of law and politics information every day at until my next report. I'm Michael Popach. Can't get your fill of legal AF? Me neither. That's why we formed the Legal AF Substack. Every time we mention something in a hottake, whether it's a court filing or a oral argument, come over to the Substack. You'll find the court filing and the oral argument there, including a daily roundup that I do called, wait for it, Morning AF. What else? All the other contributors from Legal AF are there as well. We got some new reporting. We got interviews. We got ad free versions of the podcast and hot takes. Where? Legal AF on Substack. Come over now to free subscribe.

Questions about this episode

Who speaks in "Trump BLINDSIDED by JUDGE over Ballroom FROM HELL"?

Michael Popach (Host), Donald Trump (Guest), Judge Leon (Guest).

What is "Trump BLINDSIDED by JUDGE over Ballroom FROM HELL" about?

What is mentioned in this MeidasTouch episode?

8 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Donald Trump, Legal AF, Michael Popach, National Trust, Minus Touch Network, Brett Leon. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "Trump BLINDSIDED by JUDGE over Ballroom FROM HELL"?

The episode runs 12 min; the transcript is about 2,089 words in 15 timestamped sections.

More from MeidasTouch

About this transcript: the episode's spoken words as captioned on YouTube, split into timestamped sections. Reclip.Me locates every person, work and idea in the text, keeps the time it is first named, and quotes the words around it verbatim. Last updated January 24, 2026.