Historic preservationists on Tuesday asked the Supreme Court to keep President Donald Trump’s ballroom construction on hold while litigation plays out, warning of an administration effort to “outrun judicial review.”
The National Trust for Historic Preservation, which sued last year to halt the project, said Trump had exceeded his authority by attempting to build the planned $400 million ballroom by soliciting private donations rather than seeking congressional approval. They also criticized the White House for racing to complete its construction, with administration officials last week telling the high court that work is “65 percent complete” and that it is too late to stop the project.
“Rather than obtain permission from Congress, Petitioners have instead decided to try to outrun judicial review,” the National Trust wrote in its filing.
A divided federal appeals court panel ordered administration officials to halt construction on the ballroom by Friday unless the project is authorized by Congress — which will not happen, given that lawmakers are on recess with no plans to return before the end of the month.
The Trump administration last week asked the court to remove that block, saying that the project must move forward for national security reasons. Senior officials told the Supreme Court that the large ballroom will help shield the White House grounds, provide a safe place for the president to meet with foreign leaders and other VIPs, and offer other benefits to fortify the complex.
Trump has also attacked the historical preservationists as “treasonists” for seeking to prevent his ballroom project from moving forward. The president has increasingly conflated a military complex being built underneath the ballroom — which courts have said is allowed to proceed — with the ballroom itself, insisting that the two projects are inseparable.
The National Trust has said that it is not opposed to construction necessary for national security. But the organization has argued that if ballroom construction is not halted while courts consider the case, the Trump administration has said the project will soon progress to “beyond the point” of no return. The administration has said in its filing that crews expect to “be substantially finished by November 2026,” the trust said in its filing.
“The injuries to the National Trust, its members, and the public from the unauthorized construction of the ballroom — catalogued by Petitioners’ own Environmental Assessment and already found to be irreparable by the lower courts — will in all likelihood become irreversible,” the trust said in the filing.
Democrats on Tuesday also called for the Supreme Court to keep the ballroom construction on hold.
California Reps. Robert Garcia and Jared Huffman and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (Rhode Island) joined about 30 other congressional Democrats in an amicus brief supporting the National Trust. Most of the lawmakers are the top Democrats on committees that oversee the Trump administration in various capacities.
“[Q]uestions about how best to protect current and future White House residents, staff, and visitors fall well within the ambit of Congress’s powers over federal property and federal spending,” the Democrats wrote. “And that means that the construction the President seeks should not proceed until Congress authorizes that construction and appropriates the funds for it.”
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