Supreme Court temporarily allows Trump’s White House ballroom project to continue

Donald Trump’s disputed plan to build a ballroom at the White House can move forward for now after the Supreme Court narrowly intervened in the case.

Five conservative justices ruled that the Trump administration had a strong chance of defeating a lawsuit brought by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The organization has challenged the project, arguing that the government bypassed legally required reviews and failed to obtain congressional approval.

The Supreme Court stressed that its decision did not determine whether the construction itself is legal. Instead, the justices indicated that the administration could show the National Trust had not sufficiently demonstrated direct harm from the project and therefore lacked the legal standing to bring the case. The court’s three liberal justices and conservative Chief Justice John Roberts dissented.

Roberts had already temporarily lifted an appeals court construction halt on Aug. 21 while the Supreme Court considered arguments from both sides. A federal court stopped work on the ballroom in April, although it allowed construction of an underground military bunker to continue. An appeals court upheld the halt in early August and said a transformation of the White House would require explicit congressional approval.

Trump ordered the historic East Wing demolished in October 2025 to make room for a ballroom designed to hold up to 1,000 guests. He says he and wealthy donors will finance the project privately. US media, however, have reported that taxpayers could cover much of the cost, now estimated at as much as $600 million. Trump welcomed the ruling on Truth Social, writing that the complex would be among the greatest ever built in Washington and that, if completed in summer 2028, it would make the country proud.

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If it is completed in the summer of 2028, the magnificent ballroom and military complex will be something the whole country will be very proud of.