The U.S. Supreme Court now has gotten the fight over the Trump administration’s plans for a new $400 million White House ballroom, funded by donors, in place of the demolished East Wing, and the associated security projects that go with it.
The Washington-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, inhabited by multiple anti-Trump judges, earlier ordered a halt to the work.
The administration of President Donald Trump now has asked for an order allowing the work to continue.
🚨 The Trump administration has asked the Supreme Court to allow construction of President Trump’s White House ballroom to continue, requesting an immediate pause of the lower-court injunction blocking construction, which is set to take effect on August 21. pic.twitter.com/85pK9V0vBY
— SCOTUS Wire (@scotus_wire) August 14, 2026
🇺🇸 Trump’s $400 million White House ballroom fight just reached the Supreme Court.
Lower courts told him to stop above-ground construction until Congress signs off.
Trump says he shouldn’t need their permission.
There’s a high-security bunker being built underneath, and… pic.twitter.com/LftRNMOiV7
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) August 14, 2026
NEWS: The Trump administration has filed an emergency request with the Supreme Court to intervene and allow construction to continue on the new White House ballroom over national security concerns.
CNN: “The Trump administration in this filing is arguing that this is a matter of… pic.twitter.com/jV6MHQpmhw
— RedWave Press (@RedWavePress) August 14, 2026
The fight was created by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which sued over the project, even though other presidents have done major projects on the White House grounds without their opposition.
A lower court judge claimed no federal statute grants Trump authority to construct the ballroom with donated funds without congressional approval.
Now Solicitor General D. John Sauer said the injunction, which still is pending, “would wrongfully install a single district judge as sole arbiter of what further construction is ‘strictly necessary’ to protect the safety of the President, his family, staff members, and visitors to the White House, including foreign dignitaries, and presidents and prime ministers of other countries.”
The appeals ruling, if it is allowed to take effect, would halt work, which actually is continuing while the Supreme Court considers whether to step in.
WorldNetDaily reported when the appeals court decided to micromanage the Executive Branch’s responsibilities to operate and maintain the nation’s federal facilities at the White House.
As expected, two Democrat-appointed judges there claimed that President Donald Trump’s plan for the ballroom, which is being funded by private donations, requires congressional funding. There are planned a number of security projects along with the ballroom.
The fight comes as judges routinely block or try to undo many of the projects through which the president is trying to improve the infrastructure in Washington.
Heretofore major events have been held outdoors in Washington, and Trump’s plan, which he confirmed was being funded by private donors, would create an indoor space for the cream of the nation’s social events.
“We are aware of no instance in American history in which a President unilaterally and using privately collected funds demolished substantial portions of the White House that Congress authorized to be built and American taxpayers paid for. Until now,” the two judges trying to killing the capital improvement said.
They are Patricia Millett, appointed by Barack Obama, and Brad Garcia, appointed by Joe Biden.
Dissenting was U.S. Circuit Judge Neomi Rao, a Trump appointee, who concluded that the “preservationist” organization challenging Trump’s plans didn’t even have standing to sue because the project was within the president’s authority.
“The district court seized supervision of construction at the White House, and my colleagues affirm this judicial overreach,” Rao wrote. “Because the injunction is beyond the proper province of the federal courts, construction should be allowed to continue.”
