Trump’s White House Ballroom Scores Major Supreme Court Victory

The United States Supreme Court handed President Donald Trump a major legal victory Monday after it blocked orders by lower federal courts to cease the construction of a grand White House ballroom.

“Today, we do not pass upon the legality of the government’s East Wing project,” the unsigned opinion of the Court’s majority accompanying the order reads. “We conclude only that, based on the submissions before us, the government is likely to prevail in showing that the [National Trust for Historic Preservation in the United States] lacks Article III standing to challenge the project in federal court and that the remaining stay factors favor relief.”

“Accordingly, the application for stay presented to THE CHIEF JUSTICE and by him referred to the Court is granted,” it continues. “The injunction entered by the United States District Court for the District of Columbia in case No. 1:25–cv–04316 is stayed pending the filing and disposition of the government’s petition for a writ of certiorari, if such writ is timely sought.”

A writ of certiorari, from the Latin for “to be more fully informed,” is a formal order issued by a superior court instructing a lower court to pass up the record of a case for review.

In the 5–4 decision, Chief Justice John Roberts — an appointee of former President George W. Bush who previously granted an administrative stay — joined Democrat-appointed Justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor, and Ketanji Brown Jackson in dissent.

“Construction of the ballroom has proceeded apace for the better part of a year,” Roberts wrote. “That construction is likely unlawful.”

“Pursuant to its plenary constitutional authority over the District of Columbia and federal property, Congress has explicitly prohibited the construction of any ‘building or structure . . . on any reservation, park, or public grounds of the Federal Government in the District of Columbia without express authority of Congress,'” the chief justice continued.

“The White House is not just any building, and—when it comes to historic preservation—Hoagland is not just any person. In failing to appreciate as much, the Court misconceives the plaintiff’s injury, allowing the Executive’s likely infringement of the Legislature’s power of the purse and authority to regulate federal property in the District of Columbia to continue,” he added. “Today’s decision is no victory for the separation of powers.”

Courthouse News: US Supreme Court allows President Trump to continue construction of his White House ballroom

The ruling was 5-4. John Roberts joined the liberal justices in dissenting.

Link to ruling: https://t.co/ugyks5hSJq https://t.co/Gy5hJfn2bP pic.twitter.com/rNfM2w2foM

— Politics & Poll Tracker (@PollTracker2024) August 31, 2026

The order follows Roberts’s Aug. 21 administrative stay of a preliminary April 16 injunction by U.S. District Judge Richard Leon — another Bush appointee — to cease construction of the ballroom “pending further order of [the chief justice] or of the Court.” More significantly, it signals a possible end to the legal challenge mounted on Dec. 12, 2025, by the National Trust for Historic Preservation in the United States.

The Trust challenged the project for not obtaining congressional authorization before the October demolition of the White House’s East Wing, as well as harms relating to environmental, procedural, and aesthetic concerns. The latter was claimed in court filings to demonstrate “associational standing” by retired architectural historian and National Trust board member Alison Hoagland’s personal and professional connections to the site being affected by the project.

Whereas each of the justices is assigned supervisory jurisdiction over at least one of the 13 circuit courts across the United States, Roberts enjoys the legal authority to oversee emergency petitions filed in the D.C., Federal, and Fourth Circuit Courts. The chief justice, however, often invites the full Supreme Court to weigh in on such significant applications which arrive through the Court’s emergency — also called the “shadow” — docket. The resulting orders, rather than relying on both briefs and scheduled oral arguments before being issued months later, consider abbreviated filings and can be issued in as little as a few weeks and are often unsigned. Less brief per curiam opinions, however, represent the voice of the Court as a whole rather than those of individual justices.

“I am pleased to report that the United States Supreme Court has just ruled in favor of the Ballroom/Military Complex being built without any further contingency, doubt, or threat,” Trump wrote in a Monday post to Truth Social. “We are living in the Golden Age of America, and this Building will be one of the Greatest ever constructed in Washington, D.C.”

“When completed in the Summer of 2028, the magnificent Ballroom and Military Complex will be something that the entire Country is very proud of,” he continued. “The Project, despite the baseless lawsuit brought by the so-called National Trust for Historic Preservation of the United States, which is not in any way affiliated with the United States Government, is under budget and ahead of schedule. The Ballroom is totally funded by Great Patriots and Corporations and, therefore, is a Gift — At no cost to the American Taxpayer. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

The Trust had claimed in their Aug. 18 response to the administration’s Aug. 13 application for a stay that if the Court granted the petition, it would signal to the White House that “this case is over.”

“The result?” it predicted. “The Trust and Professor Hoagland would be irreparably injured, since if Petitioners succeed in completing the ballroom and convincing the courts that challenges to it are beyond judicial remedy, the ‘[c]oncrete and extensive architectural, historic-preservation, professional, and visual injuries of the types claimed by Professor Hoagland — and factually found by [NPS] itself to be material and permanent results of the ballroom’s planned size and scale,’ … — will become irreversible.”

“The public would be irreparably injured, since “[n]ational parklands in the District are ‘unique resources that the Federal Government holds in trust for the American people,'” it continued, “and ‘[e]xecutive actions that take control of [the White House] out of the hands of the people’s representative while irreparably harming the historical and visual architecture of perhaps the most prominent public building in the United States seriously intrude on the public interest.'”

“‘After all, the White House’ is a ‘historic and cultural icon’ that ‘does not belong to any one man—not even a president[,]'” it added.

Nevertheless, Trump’s vision for a modernized White House East Wing, which he criticized as suffering from structural, water, and mold issues, as well as logistically failing to support state functions, has successfully endured 262 days of legal filings, oral arguments, judicial deliberations, and court orders.

“We are deeply disappointed in the Supreme Court’s ruling today and respectfully disagree with the majority’s opinion on standing,” the Trust, sharing a statement by its president and CEO, Brent Leggs, told the DCNF. “It is noteworthy that the majority did not weigh in on whether the ballroom project was in fact legal.”

“We are pleased with Chief Justice Robert’s strong dissent, which reiterated what we have maintained from the start of our case—that construction of the White House ballroom is unlawful,” it continued. “In addition, this is not the final decision on the merits of our case and does not resolve our fundamental argument—that each President is a temporary steward of the People’s House and does not have the unilateral authority to demolish and redesign it without the approval of Congress.”

“We anticipate that the government will file an application for a writ of certiorari and look forward to reviewing it,” it concluded. “We urge the Supreme Court to expeditiously consider the government’s certiorari petition, and we will continue to advocate with our partners on behalf of the American people, the democratic values of our nation, and the preservation of our country’s most historically significant places.”

The roughly 89,000-square-foot project designed to be crowned by a 22,000-square foot state ballroom and “droneport” notably did not see any court-ordered delays materialize or take effect, and is projected to be structurally completed in November 2026, ultimately opening in late 2028. The Trust, meanwhile, had accused the administration of attempting to “outrun the courts” through the efforts of a “250-person crew working 20 hours a day, 7 days a week to keep the Project ahead of schedule and under budget [sic].”

The White House East Wing modernization effort may eventually return to the Supreme Court but, for the time being, construction of one of Trump’s major legacy projects can continue.

Editor’s note: This breaking news story was updated with a Truth Social post by President Trump, a statement from the National Trust for Historic Preservation in the United States, and other details.