Supreme Court chief justice allows work on Trump’s $400M White House ballroom to continue for now

Supreme Court’s chief justice allows work on Trump’s $400M White House ballroom to continue for now 1 of 3 | Construction continues on a helipad and the White House Ballroom on the South Lawn of the White House, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Tierney L. Cross) 2 of 3 | Artist renderings relating to White House Ballroom construction, contained in a filing by the Trump administration to the U.S. Supreme Court, are photographed Friday, Aug. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Jon Elswick) 3 of 3 | White House Ballroom construction continues Wednesday, July 22, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Allison Robbert) By LINDSAY WHITEHURST and MICHAEL KUNZELMAN Updated 8:53 PM MESZ, August 21, 2026 Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Washington (AP) — Chief Justice John Roberts on Friday allowed the White House to continue construction on President Donald Trump’s $400 million ballroom project for now, as the Supreme Court considers the Trump administration’s emergency request to intervene in lawsuits over the project. The temporary order comes hours before lower-court rulings would have forced a halt to aboveground construction. It will remain in place until the court issues a more durable decision, though the one-page document does not detail his reasoning or indicate when another ruling will be handed down. The order pauses the decision of a Washington-based judge who found that work must stop because Trump didn’t get congressional approval. It was signed by Roberts because he oversees appeals of cases filed in the capital. The case comes before the nation’s highest court as Trump, a Republican, exercises unparalleled assertions of presidential power and increasingly seeks to mold the capital in his own image. The Trump administration has scored a series of victories on the high court’s emergency docket, though the justices have ruled against some of the president’s signature policies after fuller review. The administration has argued that the president has total authority to renovate the White House and other federal buildings as he sees fit and that the ballroom project must be completed due to national security concerns. Trump asks Supreme Court to let White House ballroom construction continue during appeal 2 MIN READ 110 Appeals court rules Trump can’t build White House ballroom without congressional approval 2 MIN READ 396 Preservation group urges Supreme Court to suspend Trump’s White House ballroom project 2 MIN READ 396 When Trump first announced the plans for a new ballroom, he did not emphasize national security. He said the project would be funded by private donations, including from himself. The National Trust for Historic Preservation argues that Trump has no unilateral authority to undertake the work, which has included demolishing the East Wing. Lawyers for the preservation group accused the White House of trying to “outrun the courts” by accelerating construction. This is our AP Ground Game newsletter. You can subscribe below and we will email it you 3 times per week. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google and Terms of Service apply. A spokesperson for the trust said Friday that the order from Roberts is not a final decision and the group is awaiting further action from the court. The White House did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment. 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. Crews are working 20 hours a day, seven days a week on the project, where about $200 million in private donations has been spent or committed, according to court documents filed by the Justice Department. A district court judge ordered a stop to aboveground construction of the planned ballroom in April in a ruling that was suspended before being upheld by an appeals court panel. The order from U.S. District Judge Richard Leon in Washington allows belowground work on bunkers and military installations to continue. Leon was nominated by President George W. Bush, a Republican. Two appeals-court judges appointed by Democratic presidents found the project was for Congress to decide and “not a matter for Executive self-help.” A third judge, appointed by Trump, found that the preservationist group challenging the project had no legal standing to sue. Solicitor General D. John Sauer picked up on that argument, calling the decision halting the work “extraordinary and unlawful.” He said the completion of the project was “vitally required by national security.” Follow the AP’s coverage of the U.S. Supreme Court at https://apnews.com/hub/us-supreme-court. LINDSAY WHITEHURST Whitehurst covers the Supreme Court and legal affairs for The Associated Press. She’s won multiple journalism awards in a career that’s spanned two decades. twitter mailto