A federal appeals court tore apart the Trump administration’s legal defense of the White House ballroom, declaring its claim that no court could stop the demolition “flouts our constitutional order.”
In a 2-1 ruling Friday, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a preliminary injunction blocking above-ground construction of President Donald Trump’s $400 million project — the third court to halt it.
The court stayed its ruling for 14 days to allow the Trump administration to seek emergency review from the U.S. Supreme Court.
“We are aware of no instance in American history in which a President unilaterally and using privately collected funds demolished substantial portions of the White House that Congress authorized to be built and American taxpayers paid for,” the majority wrote in the ruling. “Until now.”
At oral argument in June, Justice Department attorney Yaakov Roth told the judges flatly that even if the administration were breaking the law, no court had the power to stop it — not the district court, not the Circuit, not the Supreme Court.
“On these theories, I think that’s right,” Roth said.
“The bold assertion that the Executive can act with utter lawlessness, destroying treasured national landmarks and harming the interests of individuals, and that no court can stop it flouts our constitutional order,” the ruling said.
Trump had the entire East Wing demolished in just three days in October 2025 — without congressional approval — to make way for the 90,000-square-foot ballroom. The government’s own environmental assessment found the project would have “permanent adverse impacts” on the White House grounds.
The court also rejected the administration’s claim to ownership of the building itself.
“Each President is a temporary tenant, not the owner, of the White House and its Executive Residence,” the majority wrote.
The government had also argued the ballroom would be hidden from public view by trees. The district court — and the appeals court — called that claim “[p]ure fiction,” pointing to the government’s own renderings showing the structure clearly visible from Lafayette Square and the steps of the U.S. Capitol.
When the government tried to claim a routine maintenance statute quietly gave the president unlimited construction authority, the court was equally dismissive.
“Congress does not ‘hide elephants in mouseholes,’” the majority said, using a phrase from a prior Supreme Court ruling.
Whether to build the ballroom, the court concluded, is “[n]ot a matter for Executive self-help” — meaning Congress, not the president, must authorize it.
Circuit Judge Neomi Rao, a Trump appointee, dissented, calling the injunction a “blatant abuse of discretion” and arguing the project fell within the president’s authority to improve the Executive Residence.
The court’s ruling is on hold for 14 days, giving the Trump administration a window to ask the Supreme Court to intervene.
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