Democracy Dies in DarknessCrews have started building the ground floor that will hold a kitchen and offices for the first lady, even as a court battle and funding fight threaten the project.May 15, 2026 at 11:13 a.m. EDTYesterday at 11:13 a.m. EDTConstruction on the proposed White House ballroom is seen Wednesday. (Al Drago/For The Washington Post) and Historic preservationists sued to stop the project, and a federal judge ordered a halt to it. But construction on President Donald Trump’s planned White House ballroom is pressing forward, with the first portions of the structure now rising aboveground amid a continuing legal battle and a congressional fight about how to pay for it.