A federal judge in Washington has ordered construction of United States President Donald Trump’s proposed $400 million White House ballroom to stop, ruling that the president does not have the legal authority to proceed with such a large-scale project without approval from Congress.
United States District Judge Richard Leon, an appointee of former President George W. Bush, granted a preliminary injunction halting the project on Tuesday, March 31, concluding that no federal statute gives Trump the authority he claims to proceed without congressional authorisation.
“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 his 35-page ruling.
The ballroom is planned for the former site of the White House East Wing, which Trump demolished in October 2025 to make way for the project. The 90,000-square-foot structure is intended to accommodate up to 999 people for state dinners, galas, and other events.
Leon rejected the Trump administration’s argument that existing federal law governing White House maintenance and alteration was sufficient to authorise the construction. The judge said that law does not allow for the wholesale demolition of existing buildings and construction of new ones in their place.
The Justice Department filed a notice of appeal roughly 90 minutes after Leon issued his ruling. Leon suspended enforcement of his order for 14 days to allow time for the appeal, but warned that any above-ground construction undertaken during that period that does not comply with his ruling could be ordered removed depending on how the case resolves.
The judge left the door open for the project to proceed through legitimate channels. He noted that the president could seek express authority from Congress to construct the ballroom using private funds, and that lawmakers could also choose to appropriate public funding for the project if they wished.
Trump has said he raised the $400 million needed for construction from private donors and major corporations including Lockheed Martin, Amazon, and Microsoft, many of which have business before the federal government.
The lawsuit was brought by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which sued the administration in December after it proceeded with demolishing the East Wing without first seeking input from federal oversight bodies. The National Capital Planning Commission received more than 9,000 pages of public comments criticising the ballroom project, with responses ranging from aesthetic objections to concerns about altering a nationally significant historic site.
The organisation’s president and chief executive officer Carol Quillen welcomed the ruling, describing it as a victory for the American public and for the integrity of one of the country’s most iconic landmarks.
Trump, who has been personally involved in the ballroom’s design, responded by calling the ruling “so wrong” and described the preservation group as a radical organisation. The administration has maintained its aim of completing the project before the end of Trump’s term.
