Trump administration cleared to continue construction of White House ballroom, court rules

Construction was stopped after suit challenged president’s authority to raze East Wing without congressional approval

The https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/trump-administration">Trump administration can continue building a $400m White House ballroom at the site of the former East Wing, a US appeals court https://media.cadc.uscourts.gov/orders/docs/2026/04/26-5123LDSN.pdf">ruled on Friday.

The three-judge panel of the US court of appeals for Washington DC granted the administration a stay of an order days earlier that had aimed to https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72028010/73/national-trust-for-historic-preservation-in-the-united-states-v-national/">halt most aboveground construction.

That earlier order had resulted from a lawsuit filed by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/mar/31/judge-blocks-trump-white-house-ballroom-plan">challenged whether Donald Trump had the authority to raze the East Wing and construct the ballroom without congressional approval.