Trump asks Supreme Court to allow White House ballroom construction to continue

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Friday asked the Supreme Court to allow him to continue construction of a sprawling ballroom adjacent to the White House.

The emergency application follows an Aug. 7 ruling by an appeals court in Washington upholding a federal judge’s decision that would block aboveground work on site while litigation moves forward.

“If allowed to go into effect, the injunction would wrongfully install a single district judge as sole arbiter of what further construction is ‘strictly necessary’ to protect the safety of the President, his family, staff members, and visitors to the White House, including foreign dignitaries, and presidents and prime ministers of other countries,” Solicitor General D. John Sauer said in the filing.

The appeals court decision has yet to go into effect, meaning construction continues while the Supreme Court decides what to do next. The deadline for the justices to act is Aug. 21, with Sauer asking the court to act immediately.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld an injunction issued by U.S. District Judge Richard Leon.

Leon said that the White House could move forward with below-ground construction of security and medical facilities, but not the ballroom itself.

The administration immediately appealed, and his ruling has not gone into effect.

One key issue in the case is whether the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which brought the underlying lawsuit, has legal standing to sue based on its members being harmed by construction of a building they object to on aesthetic grounds.

The group’s claim rests on a declaration made by member Alison Hoagland, a long-standing preservationist who lives in Washington and serves on the organization’s board of trustees.

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThe Data Dive: Steve Kornacki on why 2026 isn’t like 2018

FOR SUBSCRIBERSWhy a wave of ‘cockroach’ protesters are defying India’s bid to stamp out their movement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThe American consumer keeps spending. How much longer can it last?

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAttack on Saudi airport dials up pressure on D.C.

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRepublican attempts to trip up James Talarico keep backfiring

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAnother Hormuz? What to know about the Houthi threat to the Red Sea

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP ad buyer mixes up Portlands, spends money meant to help Maine Sen. Susan Collins in Oregon

FOR SUBSCRIBERSJane Doe’s night started with catching up. It ended with a frat party that changed everything.

FOR SUBSCRIBERS‘Trump never cared about us’: Ukraine smarts at U.S. pressure and deal with Putin

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFacing smaller crowds and low approval ratings, Trump tries to rally the base

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAcross both parties, Black candidates look to make history in governor’s races

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbortion isn’t top of mind for voters, but Democrats are betting it could motivate their base

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFlock ‘false flags’ lead to frightening motorist encounters with police

FOR SUBSCRIBERSInside one country’s ambitious campaign to plant 50 billion trees

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOne year on, Gaza ceasefire exists ‘in name only,’ aid groups say amid near-daily Israeli strikes

Slide 1 of 1

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThe Data Dive: Steve Kornacki on why 2026 isn’t like 2018

FOR SUBSCRIBERSWhy a wave of ‘cockroach’ protesters are defying India’s bid to stamp out their movement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThe American consumer keeps spending. How much longer can it last?

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAttack on Saudi airport dials up pressure on D.C.

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRepublican attempts to trip up James Talarico keep backfiring

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAnother Hormuz? What to know about the Houthi threat to the Red Sea

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP ad buyer mixes up Portlands, spends money meant to help Maine Sen. Susan Collins in Oregon

FOR SUBSCRIBERSJane Doe’s night started with catching up. It ended with a frat party that changed everything.

FOR SUBSCRIBERS‘Trump never cared about us’: Ukraine smarts at U.S. pressure and deal with Putin

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFacing smaller crowds and low approval ratings, Trump tries to rally the base

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAcross both parties, Black candidates look to make history in governor’s races

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbortion isn’t top of mind for voters, but Democrats are betting it could motivate their base

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFlock ‘false flags’ lead to frightening motorist encounters with police

FOR SUBSCRIBERSInside one country’s ambitious campaign to plant 50 billion trees

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOne year on, Gaza ceasefire exists ‘in name only,’ aid groups say amid near-daily Israeli strikes

Slide 1 of 1

She regularly walks near the White House and said she would “suffer both professional and personal injuries, including to my aesthetic, cultural and historical interests, if a ballroom of the proposed form and scale were constructed.”

In the new filing, Sauer said the project is now 65% complete, with a superstructure five stories deep and 70 feet high. A 250-person crew is working 20 hours a day, seven days a week, he said.

No taxpayer funds are being used, Sauer added, with the project funded by $400 million in private donations. (Comcast Corp., the parent company of NBCUniversal, is one of the donors.)

Sauer dismissed Hoagland’s claim, saying that the “subjective displeasure of an offended observer does not amount to concrete injury.”

The trust on Friday issued a statement saying that the administration is “actively attempting to outrun the courts” by continuing construction, and called for the Supreme Court to reject Trump’s request.