A U.S. federal appeals court ordered Donald Trump’s administration on Friday to stop construction on a $400 million ballroom on the site of the White House’s demolished East Wing, dealing the Republican leader a major setback in a case testing his presidential authority.
“Each President is a temporary tenant, not the owner, of the White House,” and cannot fundamentally reshape it without congressional approval, the Washington-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said in a 2-1 opinion, opens new tab.
The order upheld a preliminary injunction won by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which sued last year after the administration tore down the East Wing and began building a 90,000-square-foot (8,360-square-meter) ballroom without seeking authorization from Congress.
“Whether or not a massive ballroom should be constructed is for Congress to decide and is not a matter for Executive self-help,” the panel’s majority wrote.
The appeals court placed its ruling on hold for 14 days to allow the Trump administration to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Trump, who has increasingly claimed that the ballroom project is a security necessity, referred to the structure as a “military center” in a post on Truth Social on Friday and said the administration would appeal to the Supreme Court. He called the decision “horrendous” and politically motivated and said it left him, other White House officials and visitors exposed to attack.
“This unjust decision must be overturned by the Supreme Court in its entirety,” Trump wrote. He said the ballroom plan includes bomb shelters, medical facilities, shielding from drones and missiles and other security features that are “all tied together as one big, expensive, and very complex unit.”
National Trust President Brent Leggs said in a statement that the ruling marked “a great day for our country and for the American people’s right to voice their opinions about the historic places they cherish, including the White House.”
Trump appealed after U.S. District Judge Richard Leon, an appointee of Republican former President George W. Bush, twice blocked above-ground construction on the site while allowing underground work to continue.
The ballroom plan, which the administration has described as necessary for large formal functions and to preserve the safety of the White House, is the grandest of several Trump efforts to reshape central Washington’s landscape of government buildings and national monuments.
