The court rejected three theories of standing. It held that any denial of use of the Memorial as it now exists was not impacted by the mere transfer of land ownership. It rejected general taxpayer standing because invalidating the land transfer would not redress any injury Trunk suffered. Finally the court rejected Trunk's argument that the transfer gave him standing because it prevented the enforcement of a previous injunction based on the California Constitution. The U.S. as owner is not subject to the California Constitution. The court said:
Public Law 109-272 merely provides for the acquisition of land, the compensation of the land's owners, and the maintenance of the property as a veterans memorial. These are not religious actions, nor do they injure Trunk.... Trunk tries to conflate acquisition of the Mt. Soledad property with unconstitutional operation of the property.The court additionally pointed out that if it were to invalidate the law being challenged, the federal government would still own the Memorial under a transfer to it by the city which was ultimately upheld by the courts. NBC San Diego covers the decision in a short story.