Preservation Group Urges Supreme Court to Suspend Trump's White House Ballroom Project
The administration says the $400 million project is needed for security, while the National Trust argues the work should remain paused during review.
- The Department of Justice asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday to stay a lower court order blocking construction of the $400 million White House ballroom, seeking to resume work immediately.
- Challenging the 90,000-square-foot project in Washington, the National Trust for Historic Preservation argues President Donald Trump's administration lacks authority to renovate the demolished East Wing without congressional approval.
- President Trump's administration argues the ballroom is essential for security, citing plans for bomb shelters, military installations, and a medical facility to create a 'heavily fortified' facility.
- U.S. District Judge Richard Leon, nominated by former President George W. Bush, previously blocked aboveground construction, a decision a divided appeals court panel upheld and the administration now seeks to overturn.
- By noon today, August 18, 2026, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts requested the National Trust's response as the administration pushes to continue construction while the court considers the emergency request.
103 Articles
103 Articles
Trump DOJ's stunning ballroom defense downplays 'witnessing abortions' and slavery
President Donald Trump's solicitor general argued a preservationist suing to block the White House ballroom has no more valid a legal claim than doctors traumatized by "witnessing abortions."Solicitor General D. John Sauer made that argument Wednesday in a reply brief filed at the Supreme Court, asking the justices to let construction continue while the administration appeals a court order blocking the project.The brief also compared the preserv…
The construction of a ballroom and an underground military bunker in what used to be the East Wing of the White House progresses so fast that, according to the Government, it is at a point of no return, in part also because it is rising with a type of cement used in nuclear plants “virtually impossible” to remove. Against this background, the National Fund for Historical Conservation, a non-profit organization charged with protecting historic bu…
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