According to the New York Times, there are 250 workers working 20 hours a day, seven days a week. This isn’t how government projects are done,* except for the ballroom. At the outset, it was supposed to cost $200 million, paid for by donations by companies that stood to benefit from Trump. It’s now projected to cost $600 million, which will be paid by taxpayers.
Neither the demolition of the East Wing, the construction itself, nor the use of public funds was approved by Congress. And worst of all, it is being built to suit Trump’s “aesthetic,” his love of gold and grandiosity better suited for the excesses of Versailles than the humility of the White House. Versailles was built for a king. The White House was built for a president. This distinction is lost on Trump.
But its construction continues, at least for now, as Chief Justice John Roberts has granted an administrative stay of Judge Richard Leon’s preliminary injunction, stopping the construction of the ballroom while allowing the work to continue on the underground “military complex” for the security of the White House.
Upon consideration of the application of counsel for the applicants, the response, and the reply filed thereto, it is ordered that the preliminary injunction entered on April 16, 2026, by the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, case No. 1:25-cv-4316, is hereby stayed pending further order of The Chief Justice or of the Court.
Trump, perpetually wrong about anything remotely related to law, spun this as winning vindication of his authority at the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court has not, as yet, issued any decision as to the substantive underlying matter. Then again, as CJ Roberts has allowed construction to continue, it feeds into Trump’s argument that the work is more than half done and so must be completed. After all, it’s not as if the Court will order it to be torn down, no matter how many gold seals are placed on the exterior to reflect Trump’s Queensian love of the tasteless and gaudy.
For anyone who has visited Trump Tower, you can appreciate just how tacky Trump’s notion of “beautiful” can be, and why he is incapable of grasping how this monstrosity will dwarf and ruin the iconic White House to stand as a monument to Trump. The more of the ballroom that’s built, the stronger the argument that it’s too late to stop it, even if it’s held that the construction is unlawful.
But here’s the rub. As much as Judge Leon and the DC Circuit decision were undoubtedly correct that the president is merely a steward of the White House, and has no authority to act as if he owns it and can do anything he pleases, and that such a change as a 90,000 square foot ballroom that overwhelms the White House requires congressional approval, there remains a very serious question whether the National Trust has standing to bring suit to vindicate the “injuries” to be caused by the visual disruption to Allison Hoagland.
There is a very serious possibility that the Supreme Court will hold that the National Trust lacks standing to bring the suit, without addressing whether the building of the Ballroom is lawful or within the president’s authority. In other words, it would be up to Congress to prevent a president from ruining the White House, and not to the National Trust, and based upon an individual’s claim of suffering from having to walk past and observe this grand ballroom. And this Congress, at least, has done and will do nothing to stop Trump.
There is, of course, an additional consideration. Just as Trump asked no one for permission to demolish the East Wing (better to ask forgiveness than permission?), there is a very serious concern that even if the Supreme Court enjoined construction, would Trump comply? Trump is so obsessed with completing this monument to his ego that there stands to be a very real possibility that he will claim superior power over SCOTUS and declare that he’s completing the ballroom and let the Supreme Court do what it can to stop him.
Curiously, the MAGA faithful will fight for Trump’s right to build his ballroom, even though they will never be allowed to enter and it will never be of any benefit to them. The ballroom is merely a Trump obsession, and they will fight to make sure that their Dear Leader’s dreams are fulfilled.
*A collateral question is whether work done at this speed with a no-bid contractor is properly planned and designed, whether the materials used are adequate and appropriate, or whether this will prove to be another Trump mindlessly rushed and failed construction project, like the reflecting pool.