An appeals court allows construction of the Trump White House ballroom to resume
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Construction of President Donald Trump’s $400 million White House ballroom will be able to continue at least a little longer, after a federal appeals court ordered a District Court judge to review the situation.
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit ruled Saturday that construction will continue until Friday, April 17, giving the president time to seek a Supreme Court review as the Trump administration says the hoped-for delay leaves the construction site exposed and threatens the safety of the president and his staff.
The panel ordered US District Judge Richard Leon to clarify whether — and how — his order undermines the administration’s claims about safety and security.
Government lawyers argued that the project includes critical security features to avoid a range of potential threats, such as drones, ballistic missiles and biohazards and that holding construction “would endanger the president and others who live and work in the White House.”
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President Donald Trump held a White House ballroom offering at the Air Force One media scrum on his way out of Florida last week. (Mandel Ngan/AFP)
Trump made the charge that the US military has placed a “heavily fenced” area under the theater, which includes bomb shelters and a medical center.
Blocked by Democrats, their lawyers, the National Trust for Historic Preservation (NTHP) sued in December, a week after the White House finished demolishing the East Wing with a 90,000-square-foot (8,400-square-meter) ballroom.
The group said Trump overstepped his authority when he demolished the East Wing — built in 1902 during Theodore Roosevelt’s presidency and expanded in 1942 — saying the president needed congressional approval.
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A rendering of the proposed White House ballroom shared by President Donald Trump on Truth Social on Feb. 3, 2026. (Copyright Donald Trump/Public Fact)
Trump said the president has historically had a say in White House renovations, and has long noted that Congress should not pay for the privately funded project.
A lower court issued an order on March 31 to stop construction of the ballroom, but then stayed that order to allow for an appeal.
The White House argued that the order left the White House “open and exposed,” threatening the security of the building, the president and his family and staff.
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McCrery Architects rendering provided by the White House for the new ballroom. (McCrery Architects/White House)
NTHP CEO Carol Quillen said in a statement that the organization is awaiting further clarification from the district court.
He said the group is committed to “honoring the historic significance of the White House, representing our collective role as stewards, and showing how broad consultation, involving the American people, results in a better outcome.”
Judge Leon ruled out any construction work necessary to ensure the safety and security of the White House, but said he reviewed the government’s confidential submissions before deciding that the suspension would not endanger national security.
“We cannot properly determine, on this instant record, whether the district court is “necessary for the safety and security” of addressing the defendants’ claims for irreparable harm, in the same way that it might accept the defendants’ asserted need for safety and security for the playroom itself or other temporary measures to protect the safety, visitors, guests, DC, the White House moving forward. The Circuit said in its decision.
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McCrery Architects rendering provided by the White House for the new ballroom. (White House)
The appeals panel noted that much of the government’s concern centered on that underground security operation, which the White House argued was “separate from the design of the ballroom itself and could proceed independently.”
The White House is making the case now that those security improvements are “inseparable” from the project as a whole, the appeals court said, making it unclear “whatever and to what extent” moving forward with certain aspects of the ballroom is necessary to make those improvements safe and secure.
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While Trump’s project is funded by private donations, public money is paying for the construction of underground bunkers and security upgrades.
The three-judge appeals court panel was made up of Justices Patricia Millett, Neomi Rao and Bradley Garcia. Millett was nominated by former President Barack Obama, a Democrat. Rao was nominated by Trump. Garcia was nominated by former President Joe Biden.
Rao wrote a dissenting opinion, which cited the law that allows the president to make advances to the White House.
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“Importantly, the government has presented substantial evidence of ongoing security risks at the White House that could be exacerbated by halting construction,” Rao wrote, adding that such concerns outweigh the “general aesthetic risks” presented in the lawsuit.
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
