Trump asks Supreme Court to revive White House ballroom project

Maureen Groppe, USA TODAYFri, August 14, 2026 at 1:24 PM UTC

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WASHINGTON – The Trump administration on Friday, Aug. 14, asked the Supreme Court to let construction continue on the president’s $400 million White House ballroom, arguing that lower courts wrongly concluded that the project needs congressional approval.

In an emergency appeal, the administration said the justices should pause an order halting the above-ground portion of the project while it's being challenged in court.

Last October, President Donald Trump bulldozed the East Wing to begin construction of a 90,000-square-foot ballroom paid for by private funds.

After the National Trust for Historic Preservation sued, a federal district judge said only underground work on bomb shelters and other security-related components could continue.

A federal appeals court backed that decision this month in a 2-1 opinion, but kept the order from going into immediate effective to give the administration time to appeal.

“It is Congress’s job to ensure that any major construction and security projects at the White House will protect the safety of all Presidents, present and future, while preserving the historical and architectural significance of this unique location,” the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit said.

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Circuit Judge Neomi Rao disagreed, writing in her dissent that the district court judge had improperly seized control of construction in his March ruling.

“The government should not be forced to rely on the district court’s architectural approval to secure the President’s home and office,” Rao wrote.

Rao was appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit by Trump. The two judges who upheld the district judge’s ruling – Patricia Millett and Brad Garcia – were appointed by Democratic presidents.

The Trump administration has argued that the entire ballroom construction needs to proceed or it will leave the White House "open and exposed" and create "grave national-security harms" to the building, the president and his family and staff.

"The Project is critical for ensuring that the White House can serve as a secure location for the gathering of the President, gathering of senior government officials, and gatherings that further the interests of the United States," Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton told the Supreme Court in the appeal.

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The administration argues that Congress has authorized Trump – and every other president – to renovate, secure and protect the White House complex as needed.

The Justice Department also challenges the ability of a member of the National Trust for Historic Preservation to be able to sue based on her “subjective preference” about how the White House should look.

The court order allows some work to continue, including below-ground construction of bunkers, bomb shelters and military and medical infrastructure, as well as above-ground construction needed to protect those facilities.

And the appeals court said the administration’s national security arguments “are not an automatic get-out-of-law-free card.”

“The bold assertion that the Executive can act with utter lawlessness, destroying treasured national landmarks and harming the interests of individuals, and that no court can stop it, flouts our constitutional order,” the majority wrote.

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Trump, whose background is in real estate, has made several changes in the White House, including replacing the Rose Garden lawn with a paved patio and gilding the Oval Office.

For years, Trump has been pushing for a ballroom in the White House that would accommodate large gatherings, such as state dinners. He has lamented the fact that many of the fancy affairs in the past were held in tents.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation has argued that the project's size would "overwhelm the White House itself.”

If allowed to continue, construction is expected to be finished a few months before the end of Trump's term, according to the administration.

The project is 65% complete, the Justice Department said in its appeal, and has "passed the point where major changes" to the design are feasible.

Contributing: Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump asks Supreme Court to revive White House ballroom project

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