Donald Trump’s $400 million White House ballroom vanity project just hit a major legal roadblock.
A federal appeals court on Friday ordered Donald Trump’s administration to halt construction of his $400 million White House ballroom, delivering a major blow to the president in a case questioning his authority to reshape the “People’s House.”
The ruling comes after Trump’s administration demolished the East Wing to make room for the roughly 90,000-square-foot ballroom.
However, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that Trump can’t simply decide to reshape the White House because he wants to.
In a 2-1 decision, the court upheld a preliminary injunction secured by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which sued the administration over its decision to begin the project without congressional approval.
The court’s message was unusually blunt.
“Whether or not a massive ballroom should be constructed is for Congress to decide and is not a matter for Executive self-help,” the majority wrote.
The judges went even further, rejecting the idea that a president has unlimited authority to remake the White House.
“Congress has not ceded unfettered authority to the Executive Branch to dramatically redesign, reshape, and reconstruct the White House — the People’s House — to fit a particular President’s desires,” the court said.
Ouch.
The appeals court has put its order on hold for 14 days, giving the administration time to ask the Supreme Court to intervene.
Trump had appealed after U.S. District Judge Richard Leon, a George W. Bush appointee, twice blocked above-ground construction while allowing work below ground to continue.
Leon previously concluded that there was no federal law that “comes close to giving the president” authority to make such sweeping changes to the White House without congressional approval.
Trump has portrayed the ballroom as a grand gift to the American people.
He has called the 90,000-square-foot project necessary for hosting major events safely and has repeatedly promoted the building as a centerpiece of his plans to remake Washington.
The price tag, however, has ballooned to roughly $400 million.
Trump has also used the attempted shooting at this year’s White House Correspondents’ Association dinner as an argument for why a larger and more secure event space is necessary.
Last month, he bragged on Truth Social that the ballroom was “approximately twice the size” of the original proposal and promised it would be “magnificent, safe, and secure!”
It is also now roughly twice as expensive.
The ballroom is just the latest Trump-backed beautification project to run into trouble.
His administration’s overhaul of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool became a spectacular mess after a new liner began peeling and algae turned the water an alarming shade of green. The pool eventually had to be drained.
Then came another legal embarrassment: a judge ruled that Trump’s name had been illegally added to the exterior of the Kennedy Center and ordered it removed.
Now the president’s biggest Washington makeover project has been put on hold by a federal appeals court.
Trump wanted to reshape the People’s House to his liking.
Now, the courts have told him to ask Congress first.
