A Department of Justice lawyer declared in court Friday that Donald Trump has the right to bulldoze the Statue of Liberty, and there is not much that could be done to stop him.

Justice Department attorney Yaakov Roth made the stunning comment during oral arguments before the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, as he argued for Trump to continue the destruction of the historic East Wing of the White House to make space for his 90,000-square-foot ballroom at the White House without congressional approval.

The Trump administration has argued that no one has legal standing to challenge the construction of the ballroom or any other national monument once demolition starts because the work has moved too quickly.

“If the government decides very quickly to bulldoze 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?” Judge Patricia Millett asked, according to Politico’s Kyle Cheney.

“I think that’s right, yes,” Roth responded.

The lawsuit to block the construction of the ballroom was brought by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. It is an organization dedicated to protecting America’s diverse historic sites and neighborhoods. The DOJ argued that the group lacks standing to challenge the ballroom construction. It also argued that construction on the ballroom cannot be stopped by the courts, only by Congress, and once demolition has begun, it would be too late for even Congress to intervene.

Earlier this year, DOJ lawyers argued in court that the underground military bunker is the primary purpose of the site, not the ballroom. In March, U.S. District Judge Richard Leon blocked any new construction without congressional approval, but allowed construction of the bunker to continue.

The appeals court is now deciding whether to continue blocking the administration from building the ballroom.

The ballroom is not the only vanity project Trump has undertaken since returning to office, as he tries to leave his mark on the nation’s capital. He has proposed a 250-foot gilded triumphal arch in Washington, D.C. that would obstruct views of Arlington National Cemetery, and a UFC Arena to host fights for his birthday is currently under construction on the South Lawn of the White House.