A US federal judge has ordered Donald Trump to halt construction of a $400m ballroom at the White House, ruling that the project requires congressional approval. The president had demolished the historic East Wing last year to make way for the 90,000-square-foot development.
District Judge Richard Leon granted a preliminary injunction sought by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which argued that Trump exceeded his authority by razing the East Wing and starting work without Congress's consent. The order brings construction to a standstill unless lawmakers authorise it.
In his opinion, Leon wrote: 'Unless and until Congress blesses this project through statutory authorisation, construction has to stop!' He noted that it was not too late for Congress to approve the ballroom, and that President Harry Truman had sought and received congressional approval for the last major White House renovation in the 1950s.
The Trump administration immediately appealed. On Truth Social, Trump called the National Trust 'a radical left group of lunatics' and claimed the ballroom was 'under budget, ahead of schedule, being built at no cost to the taxpayer, and will be the finest Building of its kind anywhere in the World'. He also attacked the judge's decision as 'WRONG'.
White House lawyers had argued that the ballroom was a permitted 'alteration' and did not need congressional approval. However, Leon had previously signalled scepticism about this argument. The project, financed by private donors and corporations including Meta, Apple, Amazon and Google, has faced months of litigation.
