President Trump on Saturday shared AI-generated renderings of a fortified White House “DronePort,” showing the complex lined with military drones and armed personnel, just one day after a federal appeals court ordered him to stop work on his $400 million ballroom project and seek approval from Congress.
“This great and very important military asset sits atop the heavily protected Ballroom at the White House. It provides National Security for Washington, D.C., and will protect future Presidents!!!” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.
On Friday, a three-judge appeals panel ruled 2-1 that construction must be paused on the planned 90,000-square-foot ballroom. The majority sharply criticized Trump for razing the White House’s entire East Wing “over just three days in October 2025” without congressional authorization or the consultations officials had previously pledged.
The court described the project, which began in September 2025 and included the demolition of the East Wing, as an unprecedented example of “Executive self-help,” saying no comparable episode exists in U.S. history.
A second image posted by Trump depicts the proposed site at sundown, with long shadows cast by drones, several of them appearing roughly truck-sized. The rendering also shows 28 armed service members standing at attention.
Trump had previously touted the drone-related features of the $400 million White House ballroom project in May, while the National Trust for Historic Preservation was challenging the development in court and arguing that it was unlawful.
“The entire roof is built for military,” Trump said at the time. “They have a massive drone capacity. Not only is it drone-proof, if a drone hits it, it bounces off, it won’t have any impact. But it’s also meant as a drone port that would protect all of Washington.”
In its decision, the two-judge majority delivered a blunt rebuke.
“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,” wrote judges Patricia Millet and Bradley Garcia in their majority opinion.
The panel ruled that whether “a massive ballroom should be constructed is for Congress to decide and is not a matter for Executive self-help.”
Millet is an Obama appointee and Garcia was appointed by former President Joe Biden. The third judge on the panel, Trump-appointed Circuit Judge Neomi Rao dissented Friday. The appeals court upheld a ruling by US District Judge Richard Leon, a George W. Bush appointee.
Trump bristled at the ruling and vowed to take the fight to the Supreme Court in an angry Friday post. He referred to the ballroom in a Friday post as a “military center”
“The Military and Secret Service are viewing this horrendous, politically motivated, and unlawful ruling as a National Security threat to our Nation in that the entire Complex is being built for the protection of our Country and, additionally, all future Presidents,” he wrote.
“Over just three days in October 2025, without undertaking promised consultations or obtaining Congress’s permission, President Trump bulldozed the entire East Wing in order to construct a massive, 90,000 square-foot ballroom paid for by private funds with no congressional oversight,” the court panel said.
Judge Leon had made an exception for safety and security, allowing for “below-ground construction, including construction of bunkers, bomb-shelters, and military and medical infrastructure, as well as above-ground construction ‘strictly necessary to cover, secure, and protect’ such facilities.”
