A federal judge put a temporary stop to President Donald Trump’s $400 million plan to build a White House ballroom on Tuesday.
The move follows a lawsuit filed by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which objected to the demolition of the White House’s East Wing that took place last fall under the Trump administration.
In court, the preservation group argued that Trump needed to secure approval from Congress before undertaking such significant alterations to the historic building.
In his ruling, U.S. District Judge Richard Leon stated that no law grants the President the power to proceed with the project without Congress’s involvement.
“The President of the United States serves as the caretaker of the White House for future First Families. However, he is not its owner,” Leon emphasized in his decision.
As a result of the ongoing legal battle, Judge Leon granted the Trust’s request to halt work on the ballroom project.
He gave a two-week grace period for the implementation of his order and said construction could continue on portions of the project relevant to the security of the White House.
‘It is not too late for Congress to authorize the continued construction of the ballroom project,’ he wrote. ‘The President may at any time go to Congress to obtain express authority to construct a ballroom and to do so with private funds.’
President Donald Trump holds up an image of his proposed ballroom during an Air Force One trip on Sunday
The National Trust for Historic Preservation sued the Trump administration in December after the White House’s East Wing was torn down with zero oversight
The judge, an appointee of Republican President George W. Bush, previously said he believed his decision would be appealed and the case could end up in the Supreme Court.
The President responded to the news Tuesday with a furious Truth Social post.
In it, he labeled the National Trust for Historic Preservation a ‘Radical Left Group of Lunatics.’
He then bemoaned how the White House ballroom and his takeover of the Kennedy Center have been the subject of lawsuits, but not the Federal Reserve headquarters renovations nor California Governor Gavin Newsom’s ‘RAILROAD TO NOWHERE.’
‘So, the White House Ballroom, and The Trump Kennedy Center, which are under budget, ahead of schedule, and will be among the most magnificent Buildings of their kind anywhere in the World, gets sued by a group that was cut off by Government years ago, but all of the many DISASTERS in our Country are left alone to die,’ Trump posted. ‘Doesn’t make much sense, does it?’
The National Trust for Historic Preservation is a Congressionally chartered organization that was funded by the federal government for 30 years after the passage of the National Historic Preservation Act.
It now lives off private donations.
The group cheered Leon’s decision in a statement.
The construction site of the new ballroom photographed from the Washington Monument earlier this month
Workers can be seen working on the site of the former White House East Wing, which was torn down in October to make way for President Donald Trump’s $400 million ballroom
‘We are pleased with Judge Leon’s ruling today to order a halt to any further ballroom construction until the Administration complies with the law and obtains express authorization to go forward,’ said Carol Quillen, the president and CEO of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
‘This is a win for the American people on a project that forever impacts one of the most beloved and iconic places in our nation,’ she added.
The Trust sued the Trump administration in December after the East Wing had already been turned to dust.
The demolition had been a shock to many, as neither Trump nor White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt had been transparent about the plans.
Before the ballroom project began, Trump appointed his Staff Secretary, Will Scharf, to head the National Capital Planning Commission, one of the two panels that generally signs off on federal construction projects in the region.
Scharf said the NCPC doesn’t oversee demolitions, allowing the East Wing destruction to go unchallenged.
The Trust pushed the Trump administration to go through the traditional review processes used for these types of projects.
However Trump had stacked the NCPC and the Commission of Fine Arts, the other review group, with aides and allies.
In February, the Commission of Fine Arts, which commissioners include the President’s 26-year-old executive assistant, fast-tracked the ballroom’s approval without viewing the final design.
On Thursday, the NCPC is expected to do the same thing.
