A federal appeals court issued a Trump ballroom construction injunction on Friday, ordering the Trump administration to stop building the White House Ballroom until Congress approves it. The ruling puts a two-week pause on the $400 million project while the administration considers an appeal to the Supreme Court.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit acted 2-1 and sided with historic preservationists who sued to stop the work. The ballroom is planned at 90,000 square feet, or 8,400 square meters, on the White House site where the White House's East Wing stood before Donald Trump ordered its demolition.
U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
The court wrote, "Whether or not a massive ballroom should be constructed is for Congress to decide and is not a matter for Executive self-help." That language leaves the administration with a narrow path forward: the construction halt is stayed for two weeks, and any effort to resume work now runs through Congress or a Supreme Court appeal.
Todd Blanche, acting Attorney General, and Kash Patel, FBI director, are among the Trump administration figures identified in the facts tied to the broader White House project, which includes the ballroom and work on the South Lawn of the White House. Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026 photos by Tierney L. Cross show construction continuing before the court’s order, capturing the project while it was still moving ahead.
White House Ballroom
The immediate effect is practical: work stops for now, and the administration has only the two-week window built into the ruling before the order can be challenged at the Supreme Court. The court’s framing also separates the legal roles more sharply than the construction site does, with the judges saying Congress, not the executive branch, must decide whether a project of this scale should move ahead.
What Congress would be asked to approve is the project itself, not just a routine building step. That leaves the administration facing a choice during the stay — seek judicial relief or pursue congressional approval — before the halt turns into a longer-term stop.
