Preservation group urges Supreme Court to suspend Trump’s White House ballroom project
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- National Trust for Historic Preservation filed a Supreme Court petition asking justices to suspend Trump's White House ballroom project while it considers the case, less than a week after the administration asked the high court to let construction continue.
- The $400 million ballroom spans 90,000 square feet and has included demolishing the East Wing of the White House as part of Trump's push to quickly remake Washington.
- A divided appeals court upheld an order pausing aboveground construction, though it suspended that ruling to let the administration appeal to the Supreme Court.
- U.S. District Judge Richard Leon, nominated by President George W. Bush, wrote that "no statute comes close to giving the President the authority he claims to have" in the original injunction.
- The Trump administration argues the president alone — not Congress or the courts — has unimpeded authority to renovate the White House, and that the open construction site makes protecting the building harder.
- Trust lawyers accused the administration of trying to "outrun judicial review" by pressing ahead with construction rather than seeking congressional permission.
- The Justice Department also contends the National Trust lacks legal standing to sue over the ballroom.
Why it matters: The trust's petition puts the Supreme Court in position to rule on whether a president can unilaterally authorize large-scale construction on a federally protected historic site, with the appeals court's paused injunction giving the administration a temporary runway to keep demolishing the East Wing. If justices let construction resume, Trump's $400 million project proceeds without congressional sign-off; if they side with the trust, the executive branch's claimed renovation authority narrows considerably.
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