Judge rejects request to block Trump White House from building its $400
million ballroom project
[February 27, 2026]
By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge on Thursday rejected a preservationist
group’s request to block the Trump administration from continuing
construction of a $400 million ballroom where it demolished the East
Wing of the White House.
U.S. District Judge Richard Leon ruled that the National Trust for
Historic Preservation was unlikely to succeed on the merits of its bid
to temporarily halt President Donald Trump’s project. He said the
privately funded group based its challenge on a "ragtag group of
theories" under the Administrative Procedure Act and the Constitution,
and would have a better chance of success if it amended the lawsuit.
“Unfortunately, because both sides initially focused on the President’s
constitutional authority to destruct and construct the East Wing of the
White House, Plaintiff didn’t bring the necessary cause of action to
test the statutory authority the President claims is the basis to do
this construction project without the blessing of Congress and with
private funds,” the judge wrote.
The preservationists sought an order pausing the ballroom project until
it undergoes multiple independent reviews and wins approval from
Congress.
Trump used his social media account to hail the ruling as “Great news
for America.” The Republican president said the project was ahead of
schedule and under budget and "will stand long into the future as a
symbol to the Greatness of America.”
Carol Quillen, president and CEO of the National Trust for Historic
Preservation said the group was “disappointed" that no injunction was
issued but “pleased that Judge Leon ruled that the National Trust has
standing to bring this lawsuit, as we have asserted from the start.”
“We are also pleased that he encouraged us to amend our complaint —
specifically, to assert that the president has acted beyond his
statutory authority — and we plan to do so promptly,” Quillen said in a
statement. “The judge indicated he will rule expeditiously once we do
so, and we will await his decision.”
The White House announced the ballroom project over the summer. By late
October, the Republican president had demolished the East Wing to make
way for a ballroom that he said will fit 999 people. The White House
said private donations, including from Trump himself, would pay for the
planned construction of a 90,000-square-foot (8,400-square-meter)
ballroom.
Trump proceeded with the project before seeking input from a pair of
federal review panels, the National Capital Planning Commission and the
Commission of Fine Arts. Trump has stocked both commission with allies.
[to top of second column]
|
Artist renderings and diagrams of the new White House East Wing and
Ballroom, briefly posted on the National Capital Planning
Commission's website ahead of a March 5, hearing, are photographed
Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Jon Elswick)
The arts panel approved the project at a meeting last week. The
planning commission is set to discuss it further at a March 5
meeting.
During a preliminary hearing in December, Leon warned the
administration to refrain from making decisions on underground work,
such as the routing of plumbing and gas lines, that would dictate
the scope of future ballroom construction above ground.
The group challenging the project argued that Trump could be
emboldened to go further — and possibly demolish the White House’s
West Wing or Executive Mansion — if the court did not intervene.
“The losers will be (the) American public, who will be left with a
massive ballroom that not only overwhelms what is perhaps the
nation’s most historically important building, but will have been
built in violation of an astonishingly wide range of laws,”
plaintiffs’ attorneys wrote.
The administration said in a court filing that above-ground
construction on the ballroom would not begin until April. In the
meantime, government lawyers argued, the preservationist group’s
challenge was premature because the building plans were not final.
The administration also argued that other presidents did not need
congressional approval for previous White House renovation projects,
large and small.
“Many of those projects were highly controversial in their time yet
have since become accepted—even beloved—parts of the White House,”
government lawyers wrote.
Leon, who was nominated to the bench by Republican President George
W. Bush, said the White House office behind the project is not an
agency covered under the jurisdiction of the Administrative
Procedure Act. The judge also said the preservationists, who argued
that the ballroom usurped the authority of Congress, did not have
the basis to invoke the power of the courts.
As a result, “I cannot reach the merits of the National Trust’s
novel and weighty statutory arguments” at this time, Leon said.
___
Associated Press writer Will Weissert contributed to this report.
All contents © copyright 2026 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
