The Trump administration will freeze potential plans to paint the Eisenhower Executive Office Building next to the White House this year, new court filings show, granting a temporary victory to historic preservation groups who sued to block renovation of the 137-year-old building.
“GSA will not authorize or engage in the physical actions of power washing/cleaning, painting, or repointing the Eisenhower Executive Office Building before Dec. 31, 2025,” a statement from Andrew Heller, acting commissioner of the General Services Administration, declared in a court filing on Tuesday.
In the interim, federal Judge Dabney L. Friedrich is expected to rule on a request for a preliminary injunction from the groups, which seeks to stop the government from making any changes to the building without undergoing a standard review process.
The White House declined to say whether the president would heed GSA’s promise not to paint the building this year — and criticized those who had sued the president over a beautification project.
“President Trump is making the White House beautiful and giving it the glory it deserves. Only people with a severe case of Trump Derangement Syndrome would find a problem with that,” Davis Ingle, a White House spokesman, said in a statement.
The sudden declaration from GSA comes after the DC Preservation League and Cultural Heritage Partners, a law firm focused on historic preservation, filed a complaint on Friday against the Trump administration after President Donald Trump speculated about painting the buildingnext to the White House stark white.
During a Fox News interview last week, Trump said that the Eisenhower Building “was always considered an ugly building” and lamented its historic gray color — the exterior facade is mostly composed of polished granite, slate, and ornate cast-iron trim — saying that “gray is for funerals.”
In the lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the groups argued Trump could not unilaterally alter “one of the most architecturally significant and historic structures in the Nation’s Capital.” They also argued that any alterations that could cause “irreversible” changes and therefore must undergo public review under the National Historic Preservation Act and the National Environmental Policy Act. Paint could not be removed from the EEOB’s stone facade without risking its destruction, according to the suit.
“The government’s temporary freeze of the president’s plans marks a significant step forward,” Greg Werkheiser, founding partner of Cultural Heritage Partners, said in a statement. “The court battle lies ahead, and we are fully conscious of just how much is at stake for this wonderful building and for the rest of America’s treasures protected under law.”
Rebecca Miller, executive director of the DC Preservation League, warned “the threat of harm to this National Historic Landmark remains” despite the temporary halt to the plans, and she urged people to lobby their representatives and ask that the administration reconsider renovation plans.
The EEOB, as it is commonly known, is a preeminent example of French Second Empire architecture and a National Historic Landmark, according to the General Services Administration. Built between 1871 and 1888 as the home of the State, War and Navy departments, the building now serves as office space for more than 1,500 employees working for the president and vice president, as well as the Treasury and Defense departments.
The proposed painting of the EEOB marked the latest chapter of the Trump administration’s work to transform the White House complex. Since returning to office, he has paved the Rose Garden, erected a pair of 88-foot-tall flag poles on the North and South lawns, covered the Lincoln Bathroomin marble, and torn down the East Wing of the White House to make room for a 90,000-square-foot ballroom building he estimates will cost $300 million.
The post Trump administration agrees not to paint the Eisenhower building before 2026 appeared first on Washington Post.
