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Supreme Court Allows Trump’s White House Ballroom Construction
Confirmed
The Supreme Court has again sided with the Trump administration, allowing construction on the White House ballroom project to continue while the case continues to be litigated in the lower courts. By a 5-4 vote, the justices granted an emergency appeal from Trump and his lawyers on Monday, setting aside a judge’s order that would stop the construction. The decision replaces a temporary order Chief Justice John Roberts issued just hours before a lower-court ruling blocking the work was set to take effect.
The president’s victory lap came as Chief Justice John Roberts issued a strongly worded dissent from the latest order, declaring that construction of the ballroom is "likely unlawful" and warning that allowing the project to proceed risks infringing on Congress’ constitutional powers. The chief justice argued that the ballroom falls squarely within that restriction because it is being built on The President’s Park , federal land that encompasses the White House and surrounding grounds. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon ruled Trump had no authority to build a ballroom on the White House grounds without the approval of Congress, and he ordered a halt to the above-ground construction. The National Trust for Historic Preservation sued in December, contending Trump was a “temporary tenant, not the owner” of the White House.
"We are living in the Golden Age of America, and this Building will be one of the Greatest ever constructed in Washington, D.C.," Trump wrote in a Truth Social post. "The President ordered the demolition of the East Wing of the White House to make way for a new, privately funded state ballroom in its place," Roberts wrote. Acting on his own, he ordered the East Wing torn down in October to make room of his larger ballroom. Roberts said the construction project was “likely unlawful” and should not be allowed to continue. Trump said the "magnificent The Ballroom and Military Complex" is expected to be completed in summer 2028 and predicted it will be "something that the entire Country is very proud of.
What's confirmed
- "We are living in the Golden Age of America, and this Building will be one of the Greatest ever constructed in Washington, D.C.," Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.
- The president’s victory lap came as Chief Justice John Roberts issued a strongly worded dissent from the latest order, declaring that construction of the ballroom is "likely unlawful" and warning that allowing the…
- "The President ordered the demolition of the East Wing of the White House to make way for a new, privately funded state ballroom in its place," Roberts wrote.
- Roberts said the construction project was “likely unlawful” and should not be allowed to continue.
- Acting on his own, he ordered the East Wing torn down in October to make room of his larger ballroom.
What's still developing
- The Supreme Court has again sided with the Trump administration, allowing construction on the White House ballroom project to continue while the case continues to be litigated in the lower courts.
- The decision replaces a temporary order Chief Justice John Roberts issued just hours before a lower-court ruling blocking the work was set to take effect.
- Trump said the "magnificent The Ballroom and Military Complex" is expected to be completed in summer 2028 and predicted it will be "something that the entire Country is very proud of.
- Roberts pointed to federal law that prohibits the construction of any "building or structure" on federal government parkland in Washington, D.C., without express authorization from Congress.
- The chief justice argued that the ballroom falls squarely within that restriction because it is being built on The President’s Park , federal land that encompasses the White House and surrounding grounds.
- By a 5-4 vote, the justices granted an emergency appeal from Trump and his lawyers on Monday, setting aside a judge’s order that would stop the construction.
- Roberts Jr. dissented, along with the court’s three liberals.
- The conservative majority pointed to Alison Hoagland, one of its members, who said she lives in Washington, walks by the White House about once a month and said she found the “scale,” “height” and “massing” of the…