By DARLENE SUPERVILLE and MICHAEL KUNZELMAN Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal appeals court on Friday ordered the Trump administration to halt construction of its $400 million ballroom at the White House because the project lacks congressional approval.
President Donald Trump doesn’t have the unilateral authority to build a 90,000-square-foot (8,400-square-meter) ballroom where the White House’s East Wing stood before he ordered its demolition last fall, according to the decision by a three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
Friday’s ruling marked the second time this week that the administration has made headlines for construction plans that have been called into question. An assessment by the National Park Service found that a 250-foot-tall (76-meter) triumphal arch that Trump has proposed building could compromise the historical significance of dozens of sites near its planned location on a traffic circle between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery.
In a 2-1 decision on the ballroom, the appeals court sided with historic preservationists who sued to stop construction of the massive structure, which has begun to rise above ground on the east side of the White House, according to the most recent aerial photos of the site. The court said it would stay its ruling for two weeks to give the administration time to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
“Whether or not a massive ballroom should be constructed is for Congress to decide and is not a matter for Executive self-help,” the court wrote.
“This holding has nothing at all to do with whether the proposed ballroom is desirable, or not, as a matter of policy. This ruling does not even necessarily mean that the Defendants may not ultimately construct the ballroom.
“What it does mean,” the court continued, “is that the Defendants may not do so during the district court’s expeditious litigation without securing Congress’s authorization, as the Constitution and laws require.”
Trump insists Congress’ approval is unnecessary
There was no immediate comment from the White House or Trump. After the lower court earlier this year ordered a halt to aboveground construction, the president argued that permission from Congress to build the ballroom was unnecessary because public money was not being used to pay for it.
Trump has said he has raised hundreds of millions of dollars from corporations and wealthy individuals, including himself, to cover the construction costs.
“He’s saying I need congressional approval and he’s so wrong,” Trump said in March after U.S. District Judge Richard Leon’s ruling against the ballroom. “This is being financed privately.”
The National Trust for Historic Preservation, the nonprofit organization that brought the lawsuit against the administration, said Friday’s decision affirmed “the American people’s right to voice their opinions about the historic places they cherish,” including the White House.
“From the beginning, our position has been clear and consistent: the law states that only Congress can authorize the construction of a ballroom at the White House,” Brent Leggs, the group’s president and CEO said in a statement. “We are pleased with the DC Circuit Court’s decision to uphold the District Court’s preliminary injunction, which although stayed for 14 days will block any above-ground ballroom construction unless and until Congress takes action.”
The divided appeals court panel upheld an April 16 order from Leon for the administration to halt above-ground work on the ballroom. Leon, who was nominated to the bench by Republican President George W. Bush, allowed construction to continue on below-ground work on a bunker and other “national security facilities” at the site.
Trump, a Republican, railed against Leon’s decision on social media, calling him a “Trump Hating” judge who “has gone out of his way to undermine National Security, and to make sure that this Great Gift to America gets delayed, or doesn’t get built.”
The appeals court case was assigned to Judges Patricia Millett, Neomi Rao and Bradley Garcia. Millett was nominated to the court by Democratic President Barack Obama. Trump nominated Rao. Garcia was nominated by Democratic President Joe Biden. Both Millett and Garcia backed the decision, while Rao opposed it.
Preservationists challenge Trump in court
The National Trust for Historic Preservation sued to challenge the project in December 2025, a week after completion of the East Wing demolition to make way for a ballroom that Trump says will hold 999 people.
Government lawyers have argued that the project — the biggest structural change to the White House in more than 70 years — must move forward because it includes critical security features to guard against a range of threats, such as drones, ballistic missiles and biohazards.
“These upgrades, alterations, and improvements are essential to protecting the President, his family, and his staff, as well as the White House itself, and the entire project flows from them,” government attorneys wrote in a court filing.
Attorneys for the preservation group countered that the lack of a White House ballroom doesn’t constitute a national security emergency.
“That commonsense conclusion is not clearly erroneous, and there is no basis to disturb it,” they wrote.
In an initial ruling that the government also appealed, Leon barred aboveground work on the ballroom from proceeding without congressional approval. In response, the appeals court instructed the judge to reconsider the national security implications of stopping construction.
In his most recent decision, Leon ordered a stop only to the aboveground construction of the planned ballroom. The judge stressed that the White House is free to proceed with below-ground work, including the construction of any bunkers, military installations and medical facilities.
On April 2, Trump’s ballroom won final approval from the 12-member National Capital Planning Commission, which is charged with approving construction on federal property in the Washington region.
___
Associated Press writers Bill Barrow in Atlanta and Gary Fields in Washington contributed to this report.