President Donald Trump holds a rendering of the proposed new East Wing of the White House as he speaks to reporters aboard Air Force One en route from West Palm Beach to Joint Base Andrews, on Mar 29, 2026. (File photo: AP/Mark Schiefelbein)
07 Aug 2026 10:49PM
WASHINGTON: A United States federal appeals court on Friday (Aug 7) ordered US President Donald Trump’s administration to stop construction on a US$400 million ballroom on the site of the White House's demolished East Wing, dealing the Republican leader a major setback in a case testing his presidential authority.The Washington-based US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in a divided 2-1 order upheld a preliminary injunction won by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which sued last year after the administration tore down the East Wing and began building a 8,360 sq m ballroom without seeking authorisation from Congress.The appeals court placed its ruling on hold for 14 days to allow the Trump administration to appeal to the US Supreme Court.Trump appealed after US District Judge Richard Leon twice blocked above-ground construction on the site while allowing underground work to continue.
Leon, an appointee of Republican former President George W Bush, had ruled that no federal statute “comes close to giving the president” the required authority to construct the ballroom without congressional approval.The ballroom plan, which the administration has described as necessary for large formal functions and to preserve the safety of the White House, is the grandest of several Trump efforts to reshape central Washington's landscape of government buildings and national monuments.
