Judge blocks Trump's $400 million White House ballroom

Dave Goldiner, New York Daily News on Mar 31, 2026

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President Donald Trump’s plan for a glitzy new $400 million White House ballroom was blocked Tuesday by a federal judge who ruled that only Congress can approve such a dramatic change in the presidential compound.

After presiding over months of litigation, District Court Judge Richard Leon ordered Trump to immediately stop construction of the opulent ballroom on the onetime site of the East Wing, which the president unilaterally ordered razed last year.

“No statute comes close to giving the President the authority he claims to have,” Leon wrote in a sharply worded 35-page order. “The President of the United States is the steward of the White House for future generations of First Families. He is not, however, the owner.”

The judge ruled that Trump must win the approval of Congress to continue with the construction project.

“Unless and until Congress blesses this project through statutory authorization, construction has to stop!” Leon wrote. “But here is the good news. It is not too late for Congress to authorize the continued construction of the ballroom project.”

Leon, who was appointed by President George W. Bush, put his ruling on hold for two weeks to allow the White House time to file a likely appeal.

It wasn’t immediately clear whether Leon’s ruling would mean Congress will have to agree to fund the project.

Trump has said private donors would foot the bill for the project, the price of which has ballooned from the original $200 million estimate. A list of donors has been released but the amounts they have pledged are shrouded in secrecy.

The lawsuit was filed by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, a non-profit chartered by Congress.

The White House announced the ballroom project last summer. After first suggesting it would involve modest renovations, Trump in October ordered the the East Wing completely demolished to make room for the 90,000-square-foot ballroom that could accommodate 1,000 people.

Trump now says the project will also include an underground military bunker of undisclosed size and scope.

Trump proceeded with the project without first seeking input from a pair of federal review panels, the National Capital Planning Commission and the Commission of Fine Arts. Trump has since purged both commissions of critics and appointed loyalists to take their places.

The administration has said construction on the ballroom would begin in April, forcing Leon to rule quickly after a March hearing.

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