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Appeals Court Allows Trump White House Ballroom Project to Resume Amid Fight

Appeals Court Allows Trump White House Ballroom Project to Resume Amid Fight
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A federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., allowed President Donald Trump’s administration to continue work on a planned $400 million White House ballroom late Friday, narrowing — at least temporarily — a showdown over whether such a project can proceed without explicit approval from Congress thehill. The three‑judge D.C. Circuit panel also set a June 5 hearing to decide if construction should again be halted while the legal fight unfolds thehill.

The ruling came after weeks of whiplash for the roughly 90,000‑square‑foot project, which has already seen the demolition of the historic East Wing and sparked a high‑stakes clash between preservationists, the White House and the federal courts cnn. The National Trust for Historic Preservation sued in December 2025, arguing the administration overstepped its authority by razing a protected part of a National Historic Landmark to make way for a vast ballroom and underground security complex cbsnews.

What the Appeals Court Did — and What Still Hangs Over the Project

Friday’s order lifted, for now, a March 31 preliminary injunction from U.S. District Judge Richard Leon that had required “construction has to stop” unless Congress expressly authorizes the ballroom foxnews. Leon had later clarified that only “below‑ground construction of national security facilities” could continue, sharply criticizing what he called the administration’s “brazen” attempt to treat the entire above‑ground project as a security necessity cnn +1.

The appeals court did not endorse either side’s legal theory; instead, it allowed construction to proceed while it reviews whether Leon went too far and seeks more clarity on how much of the work is tied to national security thehill. The temporary green light means crews can keep working on both the above‑ground ballroom and the underground bunker‑like facilities, at least until the June hearing tests the project’s legal underpinnings again thehill.

Preservation, Power and ‘National Security’ as a Legal Shield

At the heart of the case is whether a president can unilaterally reshape the White House on this scale — demolishing an entire wing and adding a donor‑funded ballroom — or must first secure congressional authorization. Leon, a Republican‑appointed judge known for skepticism of executive power, wrote that presidents are only “stewards” of the building, not its owners, and that national security “is not a blank check to proceed with otherwise unlawful activity” foxnews +1.

The administration has cast the project as an integrated modernization that “advances critical national‑security objectives,” pointing to blast‑proof glass, missile‑resistant columns, drone‑proof roofing and a hardened underground complex that it says includes a medical facility and expanded bunker space thehill +1. Trump has attacked Leon as “highly political” and insists the ballroom‑bunker complex is urgently needed to protect the presidency, while critics like the National Trust call the East Wing’s demolition an “irreparable loss” that should not have proceeded without Congress’s explicit say‑so cbsnews +1.

The Bigger Picture

Beyond the ornate renderings and partisan rhetoric, the dispute is emerging as a test of how far security rationales can stretch presidential control over America’s most symbolically important residence. With construction now racing ahead under a temporary reprieve and a decisive appellate hearing set for June, the case will likely shape not only the future silhouette of the White House grounds, but also the precedent for how much unilateral power presidents have to alter them in the name of safety — and who gets to draw that line thehill +1.