A US judge orders a stop to the White House ballroom project, ruling President Trump lacks authority to proceed without congressional approval.
WASHINGTON: A US judge on Tuesday ordered an immediate halt to the construction of President Donald Trump’s massive White House ballroom.
Judge Richard Leon ruled that Trump, as steward of the executive mansion, required congressional approval for the project which has already seen the historic East Wing torn down.
Trump is “steward” of the White House but “he is not, however, the owner!” wrote Leon in his ruling. The judge was responding to a legal challenge from the nonprofit National Trust for Historic Preservation in the United States.
The Trump administration filed an appeal just hours after the ruling was issued. The president himself dismissed the decision when asked about it in the Oval Office.
“He’s so wrong,” Trump told reporters. He insisted Congress did not need to be involved, particularly as the project is to be paid by donors and not taxpayers.
Trump shocked many last year by having an entire section of the White House bulldozed for the new events centre. The 79-year-old Republican has frequently discussed the architectural details of the proposed facility.
On social media, Trump railed against the National Trust, calling the group “a Radical Left Group of Lunatics.” He insisted the ballroom would be “the finest Building of its kind anywhere in the World.”
The ballroom would be Trump’s biggest mark yet on the US capital since his return to office in January 2025. The president has already redecorated the Oval Office in gold and emblazoned his name on the Kennedy Arts Center.
Trump says the cost, now estimated as high as USD 400 million, is being met by private donors. Leon’s opinion stated that the decision for the project, including its funding, rested with Congress.
“Ballroom construction project must stop until Congress authorizes its completion,” Leon wrote. He offered a two-week delay to his order to allow for an appeal.
“No statute comes close to giving the president the authority he claims to have,” the judge concluded. He noted Congress could choose to authorise the project or even appropriate funds for it itself.