Chief Justice John Roberts issued a temporary order on Friday permitting the White House to move forward with the construction of President Donald Trump’s $400 million ballroom project. The ruling provides a reprieve just hours before lower-court mandates were set to halt all aboveground work due to the absence of congressional authorization for the development.
The one-page order, signed by Roberts in his capacity as the supervisor for emergency appeals originating in Washington, does not provide specific reasoning or a timeline for a final decision. The project remains under intense legal scrutiny as the Supreme Court considers the administration’s request to intervene in ongoing litigation.
During a political event in South Carolina later on Friday, President Trump welcomed the development, telling supporters that the court’s decision to let the work proceed was a positive outcome. He further noted on social media that the project is currently ahead of schedule and under budget. The administration maintains that the president possesses full authority to renovate federal facilities and has argued that the ballroom is essential for national security, a justification that was not emphasized when the project was first introduced with the promise of private funding.
The legal battle centers on the administration’s efforts to reshape the capital, with the National Trust for Historic Preservation leading the opposition. The group contends that the president lacks the unilateral power to demolish the East Wing for the project, accusing the White House of attempting to “outrun the courts” by accelerating construction. A spokesperson for the trust confirmed they are awaiting further guidance from the Supreme Court, which is expected to determine whether the work can continue for the duration of the legal challenge.
Current court filings from the Justice Department indicate that approximately 65% of the 90,000-square-foot ballroom is complete. Construction crews are operating on a 20-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week schedule, utilizing roughly $200 million in private donations that have been committed or spent thus far.
The project’s path through the judiciary has been complex. In April, U.S. District Judge Richard Leon—a George W. Bush appointee—ordered a stop to all aboveground construction, permitting only subterranean work on bunkers and military installations. While that ruling was briefly suspended, an appeals court panel later upheld it. That panel included two judges appointed by Democratic presidents who ruled that the project was a matter for Congress rather than executive self-help, while a third judge appointed by Trump argued that the preservationists lacked legal standing.
Solicitor General D. John Sauer has characterized the lower court’s injunction as “extraordinary and unlawful,” reiterating the administration’s stance that the ballroom is a vital national security requirement. While the Trump administration has experienced success on the Supreme Court’s emergency docket in the past, the justices have occasionally ruled against the president’s policies following more comprehensive reviews. The report also notes that a Republican, exercises unparalleled assertions of presidential power and increasingly seeks to mold the capital in his own image, the case is coming before the nation’s highest court as Trump. The report also notes that the Trump administration says 65% of the work has already been completed on the planned 90,000-square-foot (8,400-square-meter) ballroom, where the East Wing stood before the president ordered its demolition. The report also notes that “When they say proceed, I think that’s a good thing. The report also notes that the ballroom is going up quickly, while litigation plays out. The report also notes that supreme Court at https://.com/hub/us-supreme-court.
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