A federal judge is allowing construction of the White House ballroom to move forward, rejecting a request by the National Trust for Historic Preservation to temporarily halt President Donald Trump's sprawling project.
The preservation group sued the Trump administration last week in a bid to halt an expansive revamp of the White House property that's drawn sharp criticism from Democrats. The lawsuit alleges the administration broke ground before plans were submitted to the National Capital Planning Commission and without approval from Congress, as required for construction on federal park land in Washington, D.C.
The Trump administration told U.S. District Judge Richard Leon on Tuesday that within the next “two weeks” it expects to meet with the National Capital Planning Commission and the Commission of Fine Arts to review plans that Justice Department attorney Adam Gustafson told the court were not yet finalized.
Tad Heuer, the national trust's attorney, quipped that with this administration, “It’s always going to happen in the next two weeks.”
“The court will hold them to that,” the judge responded. “They have until the end of this month.”
The judge added that a hearing for a preliminary injunction will be held in January.
While attorneys for both sides admitted Tuesday that they are not architectural experts, there was a great deal of discussion over whether the construction already progressing underground would prevent any changes to plans for the ballroom itself.
The judge said that if any construction below ground prevents the court from being able to order changes to what happens above ground, “the government should be prepared to take it down.”
The Trump administration said in a filing Monday that "above-ground structural work" on the ballroom is expected to begin in April "at the earliest," with the overall project expected to be completed by summer 2028. Trump has argued that the new building will allow future presidents to host large events indoors instead of on the South Lawn.
Trump lauded Tuesday's court ruling during a Hanukkah event at the White House.
“We’re going to have something that’s really, really spectacular. And I thank the judge in the case for the courage in making the proper decision, because we didn’t want to be held up,” Trump said.
Trump also repeatedly referred to the project as costing $400 million — an increase from the $300 million figure he quoted for the ballroom’s construction in October. The White House had initially estimated it would cost $200 million.
The project is being paid for by Trump and a various donors. Comcast Corp., the parent company of NBCUniversal, was included in a list of top donors. It is unclear how much Comcast and other donors have contributed.
The East Wing of the White House was demolished in October to make way for a 90,000-square-foot structure that will house the ballroom. That same month, Trump fired all six members of the Commission of Fine Arts and has not appointed new members.
The commission serves as an independent federal agency that would have reviewed Trump’s ballroom project. NBC News previously reported that a White House official said at the time that the administration was “preparing to appoint a new slate of members.” Without new members it lacks a quorum to make any official decisions.
