U.S. appeals court orders halt to Trump’s $400m White House ballroom project
- An appeals court upheld a judge’s ruling to halt construction of President Trump’s White House ballroom project due to lack of Congressional approval.
- The court allowed underground work to continue but stopped above-ground construction, giving Trump two weeks to seek Supreme Court intervention.
- The ruling emphasized that construction cannot proceed without Congress's authorization, regardless of the ballroom's desirability or eventual outcome.
- The ballroom project, started with the demolition of the East Wing, is privately funded and part of Trump's broader plans to leave a legacy on Washington’s landmarks.
An appeals court dealt a blow to U.S. President Donald Trump’s prized White House ballroom project on Friday, upholding a judge’s ruling that construction must halt since Congress had not approved it.
The appeals court, which had temporarily allowed construction to continue while it considered the case, upheld the lower court’s ruling but stayed its own decision for two weeks, giving Trump time to ask the Supreme Court to intervene.
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit ruled 2-1 to uphold the district court order to halt construction above ground, while allowing work to continue below ground, where a military bunker is planned.
“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,” the majority wrote.
“What it does mean 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, who has repeatedly complained that the White House lacks sufficient space for grand galas such as state dinners, unilaterally ordered construction of the massive ballroom.
Work on the project began last year with the sudden demolition of the White House’s entire historic East Wing.
The U.S. president previously said that the cost of the ballroom — initially proposed at US$200 million but now estimated as much as US$400 million — is being met by private donors, including his wealthy supporters and a slew of corporations.
It is just one of Trump’s pet projects to leave his mark on Washington by the time he leaves office in 2029, along with a renovation of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool and other parks, as well as the construction of a gigantic arch.