A federal appeals court on Friday ordered the Trump administration to halt construction of its $400 million ballroom at the White House without congressional approval. US President Donald Trump doesn’t have the unilateral authority to construct an 8,400-square-metre ballroom where the White House’s East Wing stood before he ordered its demolition, according to the decision by a three-judge panel from the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Read moreWhite House begins demolishing part of East Wing for Trump's ballroom In a 2-1 decision, the US Court of Appeals sided with historic preservationists who sued to stop construction. The court said it would stay its own ruling for two weeks to allow the administration to appeal to the US Supreme Court. “Whether or not a massive ballroom should be constructed is for Congress to decide and is not a matter for Executive self-help,” the court wrote. “This holding has nothing at all to do with whether the proposed ballroom is desirable, or not, as a matter of policy. This ruling does not even necessarily mean that the Defendants may not ultimately construct the ballroom. “What it does mean,” the court continued, “is that the Defendants may not do so during the district court’s expeditious litigation without securing Congress’s authorisation, as the Constitution and laws require.”