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| - Yaakov M. Roth, the DOJ’s deputy assistant attorney general of the civil division, was answering a hypothetical question from U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Patricia Millett during an appeal hearing on June 5, 2026, in which she asked if ancestors of those who immigrated to the U.S. with the Statue of Liberty being “the first thing they saw coming to this country” had any legal claim to challenge the hypothetical destruction of the Statue of Liberty after the work was already done.
Rumors that an attorney representing the U.S. Department of Justice told a judge that the government could theoretically "bulldoze" the Statue of Liberty and not be subject to legal challenges over it circulated online in June 2026.
The claim spread widely on social media, with some users claiming that U.S. President Donald Trump "sent his lawyers" for the explicit purpose of declaring this sentiment to a judge.
The rumor spread amid the country's impending 250th anniversary celebration and ongoing controversy over the construction of a ballroom at the White House, a pet project that Trump has prioritized despite lack of approval from Congress and a lawsuit trying to stop it.
In sum, the claim was true, but there was crucial context missing from many interpretations of the rumor.
The rumor stemmed from an exchange between principal deputy assistant Attorney General of the Civil Division of the Department of Justice, Yaakov M. Roth, in which he answered a hypothetical question from U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Patricia Millett.
Trump did not "send his lawyers" to declare they had the right to bulldoze the Statue of Liberty. Rather, the exchange occurred during oral arguments to discuss an appeal over an injunction issued by the court regarding the ballroom project.
The Associated Press reported the session was "centered on who has standing to challenge government steps once they have already been taken and whether that standing overrides national security."
The appeal was the result of a lawsuit filed by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, a privately funded non-profit organization, objecting to the demolition of the White House's East Wing as part of Trump's ballroom project.
A declaration from a Washington, D.C., resident who is an NTHP trustee, historian and professor that was included in the suit suggested the complainant would "suffer both professional and personal injuries, including to my aesthetic, cultural, and historical interests, if a ballroom of the proposed form and scale were constructed on the site of the former East Wing."
Roth argued the claimants had no standing in the matter, and Millett brought up other hypothetical situations in which a petitioner may have a right to take action against the government for altering a historical landmark.
The question about the Statue of Liberty occurred around the 22-minute mark of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit's official archived recording of the session.
The pertinent exchange was as follows:
Millett: If the government decided very quickly and bulldozed the Statue of Liberty, the people whose ancestors, that was the first thing they saw coming to this country, but the government moved too fast. Nothing can be done?
Roth: I think that's right, yes.
The appeal document submitted to the court centered on the alleged assassination attempt on Trump during the 2026 White House Correspondents' Association dinner as a need for the ballroom update, which would include an underground bunker, and cited historical precedent for presidents making alterations to the White House.
The appeal stated on PDF Page 71, "It is hard to fathom any collection of private harms that could offset these paramount national-security interests." There has been no ruling on the matter as of this writing.
Snopes reached out to the White House press office for comment on Roth's statement and whether modification or removal of the Statue of Liberty is on the administration's agenda. We will update this article if we receive a response.
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