Appeals court says Trump White House ballroom construction can proceed for now

A crane being used to construct the new White House ballroom is seen next to the White House, Sunday, April 5 in Washington. Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP via CNN Newsource

A federal appeals court said Saturday that U.S. President Donald Trump can move ahead for another week with construction of a massive new White House ballroom while judges consider the project.

The 2-1 order from the DC Circuit Court of Appeals is a temporary win for Trump in a protracted legal fight over whether he has the authority to build the ballroom on the site of the former East Wing without express approval from Congress.

The appeals court said work on the project can continue until at least April 17. The court sent the case back down to a federal judge who initially ruled against it, saying he needed to look closer at the White House’s argument that construction must continue for national security and safety reasons, and adding that the appeals court couldn’t scrutinize the notion on a “hurried record.”

“It remains unclear whether and to what extent the development of certain aspects of the proposed ballroom is necessary to ensure the safety and security of those below-ground national security upgrades or otherwise to ensure the safety of the White House and its occupants while the appeal proceeds,” the judges in the majority wrote.

The two judges who decided to send the case back down were appointed by former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden. The dissenting judge was appointed by Trump during his first term.

Saturday’s decision is the latest flashpoint in a monthslong fight over Trump’s desire to push ahead with the ballroom project with little to no outside oversight.

After Trump demolished the East Wing last year to begin construction, the nation’s top historic preservation group went to court to challenge the legality of the project. It argued, among other things, that Congress needed to bless the project.

Senior U.S. District Judge Richard Leon agreed with the group late last month, writing in a stinging ruling that Trump was moving ahead with construction unlawfully since he had not asked lawmakers for permission to build the bold new addition to the White House.

Leon, an appointee of former President George W. Bush, said much of the work needed to stop pending congressional approval but that crews could continue “construction necessary to ensure the safety and security of the White House.”

“The President of the United States is the steward of the White House for future generations of First Families. He is not, however, the owner!” Leon wrote in the 35-page ruling.

Trump and his lawyers quickly seized on that loophole to argue that the decision was essentially meaningless.

“That’s called: ‘I’m allowed to continue building as necessary,’” Trump said shortly after Leon issued his ruling. “So on that, we’re OK.”

After appealing Leon’s decision to the DC Circuit, Trump’s lawyers told the court in a sharply worded filing that the judge overstepped when he issued a “shocking, unprecedented and improper injunction” that they said “would imperil the president and others who live and work in the White House.”

Arguing that the entire project “advances critical national-security objectives,” Justice Department lawyers asked the court to shelve Leon’s ruling while the case moved forward.

“The upgrades to the East Wing are not cosmetic; instead, they involve the use of missile-resistant steel columns, beams, drone-proof roofing materials, and bullet, ballistic, and blast proof glass windows,” they wrote in court papers. “They also include the installation of bomb shelters, hospital and medical facilities, protective partitioning, and top-secret military installations, air conditioning, heating, venting, and more.”

But the National Trust for Historic Preservation told the appeals court that Trump was erroneously conflating the bunker being built under the ballroom with the above-ground addition that is replacing the East Wing, which for decades had housed the first lady’s office.

“As is obvious, the absence of a massive ballroom on White House grounds has not stopped this (or any other) President from residing at the White House or hosting events there,” the group’s lawyers said in a filing submitted this week. “Temporarily halting the ballroom project until it complies with the law will not irreparably harm defendants or the nation.”

The ballroom project has been a top priority for Trump, who has long envisioned a large, permanent event space at the White House to replace the temporary structures that are erected on the South Lawn for some key presidential events.

The project has an estimated size of approximately 89,000 square feet, according to lead architect Shalom Baranes. By contrast, the primary White House structure, the Executive Mansion, is just 55,000 square feet.

Earlier this month, a board stacked with Trump loyalists that oversees planning for federal buildings and land provided its stamp of approval for the project. But that vote appeared to do little to advance the project given Leon’s ruling days earlier.

At the last National Capital Planning Commission meeting, the board heard from dozens of experts, including architects, historians, preservationists and former White House staffers; representatives from key groups like the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the DC Preservation League and the American Institute of Architects; and concerned citizens who voiced opposition to the project. Just one person, the owner of a local historic event venue, spoke in support of it.

NCPC Chair Will Scharf, a top Trump aide, heralded the project during the meeting, saying the ballroom “will be considered every bit as much of a national treasure as the other key components of the White House.”

Trump has promised it will be complete in the summer of 2028, months before he is set to leave office.

Devan Cole, CNN

CNN’s Katelyn Polantz and Betsy Klein contributed to this report.