Trump hails Supreme Court ruling on $400M White House ballroom; construction to continue
The US Supreme Court on Monday allowed the Trump administration to continue construction of a $400 million ballroom complex at the White House, overturning a lower-court order that had halted above-ground work while a legal challenge against the project proceeds. The 5-4 decision was a victory for Trump, who has pushed ahead with the project despite a lawsuit arguing that the president does not have the authority to undertake such a major alteration to the White House complex without congressional approval.
Instead, it found that the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the group challenging the project, likely lacked the legal standing to bring the case and said the government could face “irreparable harm” if construction were stopped. Trump welcomed the decision, calling the lawsuit “baseless” and celebrating what he described as a victory for his ballroom and wider military complex. The court’s unsigned order did not rule definitively on whether the ballroom itself is lawful. The decision was backed by five of the court’s six conservative justices. Chief Justice John Roberts dissented, joining the court’s three liberal justices.
Lower courts had previously agreed that construction should be halted above ground while the legal challenge continued. A federal appeals court upheld that order earlier this month, saying the president could not fundamentally reshape the White House without congressional approval.