US Supreme Court has granted the Trump administration's emergency request to rebuild the White House with a $400 million ballroom, a victory for President Donald Trump.
In a 5‑4 ruling, the Court overruled lower‑court orders that had halted construction of the above‑ground portion of the project. Chief Justice John Roberts joined three liberal justices in dissent, writing that “construction is likely unlawful” because Congress has not approved the proposal.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation argued that the president could not unilaterally demolish and redesign the historic East Wing. The Court found the preservation group lacked standing to sue and deemed the Trump administration’s case likely to succeed in arguing that it would suffer irreparable harm without a stay.
Trump demolished the historic East Wing last autumn to begin the ballroom, and the White House says the project will be “substantially” finished by November and fully completed by August 2028. Alongside the ballroom, President Trump has built a new helipad on the South Lawn and announced plans to revamp the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool and a new “Arc de Trump.”
Trump posted on social media that the court’s decision was a “baseless” lawsuit failure and that his “Golden Age” building will become one of Washington’s greatest ever constructed. The wide‑ranging project has sparked debate over historic preservation versus modern needs, with the National Trust lamenting the lack of congressional oversight.
