A federal judge on Tuesday suggested he would allow the Trump administration to continue work on its controversial ballroom addition, but gave the White House two weeks to file its still-unfinished ballroom plans.
Judge Richard J. Leon said the White House had until the end of December to submit its ballroom plans to a pair of federal review panels. He pressed the administration on whether its current efforts on underground construction would shape the final ballroom, and he expressed skepticism of whether the White House could truly submit plans — which a Justice Department attorney said remain unfinished — in the accelerated timetable.
Leon also warned government lawyers that if the administration performs underground construction that dictates the size of the eventual ballroom, it should be prepared to remove it.
“The court will address it, I assure you of that,” Leon said, adding that he expected to decide whether to issue a temporary restraining order within a day. Leon, an appointee of President George W. Bush, also said he would hold a hearing in January on whether to issue a preliminary injunction in the case.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation, a nonprofit group charged by Congress with helping preserve historical buildings, on Friday sued the administration and sought an emergency halt to construction, arguing that the White House had failed to undertake legally required reviews as well as obtaining authorization from Congress before demolishing the East Wing.
Tad Heuer, a lawyer with Foley Hoag who is representing the National Trust, told Leon that the White House was sidestepping decades of legal precedent on federal construction. He also dismissed a National Park Service environmental review made public on Monday as belated and “woefully inadequate,” contending that it was shaped by pressure to build the ballroom. National Park Service officials acknowledged in the report that the project would have “adverse” effects on the White House grounds.
“This case is not about the need for a ballroom,” Heuer said, arguing instead that the National Trust’s claims centered on whether the Trump administration had followed the law.
Justice Department lawyers argued that work must continue on the ballroom given national security concerns and that the White House was exempt from reviews that apply to federal agencies’ construction projects. They also said that since the East Wing was already torn down in October, there was no reason for Leon to institute an immediate pause.
“There is nothing left for this court to do,” Adam Gustafson, principal deputy assistant attorney general, told Leon. Trump officials on Monday also wrote in court filings that months of underground construction were needed to replace security infrastructure, warning that any halt could endanger the president.
Gustafson did not further detail national security concerns in court, but Trump officials have told Leon they can brief him in private. A presidential emergency-operations bunker had been located below the now-demolished East Wing for decades. The White House has repeatedly declined to comment on the fate of that bunker amid its ongoing ballroom construction, citing security concerns.
Trump and his deputies have shared few details about the ballroom itself, such as the 90,000-square-foot addition’s height — listed in court filings Monday as potentially 55 feet high. The White House’s mansion is about 60 feet high on its north side and 70 feet high on the south side, and Trump and his former chief architect on the project have argued over ensuring the addition doesn’t dominate the landscape — with the president pushing to go big. Trump officials also said they expect the project to be completed in summer 2028, the most specific timeline yet offered by the administration.
The administration’s national security arguments have injected a new dimension into the months-long fight over the ballroom, with lawmakers and other critics insisting that Trump does not have the authority to unilaterally remake a building known as the “People’s House.” Historic preservationists, Democrats and some conservatives have ripped the president for demolishing the East Wing before receiving approval to build the ballroom from a pair of federal review panels, the National Capital Planning Commission and the Commission of Fine Arts.
Members of Congress have also called on the White House to detail what was promised to private donors who are funding the $300 million project. Many of the donors identified by the administration — including Amazon, Lockheed Martin and Palantir — have business before the administration, such as seeking future federal contracts or eyeing potential acquisitions. (Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.)
Gustafson on Tuesday said that the administration is preparing to submit its ballroom plans to the federal review panels, which he argued would render the National Trust’s claims moot. He also said aboveground construction is not slated to begin until April 2026, and defended other actions as within the president’s authority.
Allowing the court to “intervene and insert itself into ongoing architectural and design processes for the East Wing ballroom” would be against the public’s interest in allowing a president to make changes to the White House, Gustafson and other lawyers told the court Monday in court filings.
Leon on Tuesday suggested he was open to the administration’s arguments that ongoing construction underground was distinct from the White House’s future plans to build an above-ground ballroom.
“The size of the building is still an open question?” Leon asked Gustafson, who assured him that the ballroom design was still in flux.
“There’s nothing final about this building,” Gustafson said.
The judge also pressed both lawyers on the role of federal review panels, particularly the National Capital Planning Commission, noting that Trump officials had said they expected to submit ballroom plans in December.
The White House has “until the end of the month to get it done,” Leon told Heuer, adding that he would “will hold them to it.”
The judge has previously ruled against the Trump administration, concluding earlier this year that the president’s executive order aimed at the law firm WilmerHale was unconstitutional.
The administration’s filings offer the most extensive view yet of a project that Trump has closely managed — and that has often been described in only vague terms by the White House.
According to administration documents and court filings, officials began meeting this spring to consider building a ballroom, determined by August that the East Wing was likely to be torn down as a result, and anticipate completing the project in the summer of 2028, in the final year of Trump’s term. Officials also acknowledged that the project “would introduce both adverse and beneficial effects” to the White House grounds, according to a review conducted by the National Park Service in August.
The ballroom would “dominate the eastern portion of the site, creating a visual imbalance with the more modestly scaled West Wing and Executive Mansion,” officials wrote, adding that the East Wing had been “integral to the White House since 1942.” But they also ticked off the main benefit they believe the ballroom would bring to the White House: a more seamless and dignified setting for large gatherings. In doing so, administrations would be able to end the past practice of pitching large tents for such occasions, which have damaged the South Lawn, they said.
The Park Service concluded the building would have “no significant impact” on the surrounding environment, decided a more extensive review was not needed and gave the project its implicit blessing. The administration started work in September.
Administration officials also revealed more details on their potential next steps.
Tammy Stidham, a National Park Service official who sits on the National Capital Planning Commission, told the court that White House officials on Monday reached out to set up a preliminary meeting with NCPC staff. That commission is now led by Trump allies, including the president’s staff secretary.
John Stanwich, another National Park Service official, said the White House is planning to engage with the Commission of Fine Arts once that panel has a quorum, and that the administration is planning to nominate new members to the commission. Trump in October fired the CFA’s members.
Stanwich also laid out work plans for the ballroom building in the coming months. Clark Construction, a contractor on the project, finished aboveground demolition earlier this month and expects to complete subterranean demolition by the end of the year, Stanwich told the court. In January, crews plan to start work on footings and underground structural concrete that will anchor and support the ballroom. Meanwhile, architects are still working to finalize the plans for the building itself.
The General Services Administration, which was also sued by the National Trust, disclaimed any role in the ballroom construction.
“GSA has taken no actions, and has no plans to take any actions, to contract for the planning, design or construction of the proposed ballroom,” Andrew Heller, a senior GSA official, told the court.
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