The Supreme Court of the United States on Monday ruled 5-4 to permit construction to continue on President Donald Trump’s White House ballroom project, granting the Trump administration’s request to stay a lower-court order that would have halted above-ground work.
In an unsigned opinion, the majority held that the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the plaintiff challenging the project, likely lacks Article III standing. The Court emphasized it was not deciding the legality of the East Wing project itself.
“Today, we do not pass upon the legality of the government’s East Wing project,” the majority wrote. “We conclude only that, based on the submissions before us, the government is likely to prevail in showing that the Trust lacks … standing to challenge the project in federal court.”
The decision lifts the practical effect of rulings by Senior U.S. District Judge Richard Leon and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit that had sought to pause most above-ground construction pending congressional authorization.
Underground work on the related military and security complex had not been blocked. Chief Justice John Roberts had previously issued a temporary administrative stay; Monday’s order makes the stay more enduring while litigation continues.
Chief Justice Roberts, joined by Justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor, and Ketanji Brown Jackson, dissented. The dissenters stated that the construction is “likely unlawful” and that the majority’s decision is “no victory for the separation of powers,” citing Congress’s constitutional authority over federal property and the District of Columbia.
The project replaces the demolished East Wing with a roughly 90,000 square foot ballroom and an extensive underground complex that the administration has described as necessary for national security.
The Trump administration has said the project, estimated at approximately $400 million and funded primarily through private donations, was about 65 percent complete as of mid-August 2026, with crews working extended hours. Completion is targeted for 2028.
President Trump welcomed the ruling, stating on social media that the Court had ruled “in favor of the Ballroom/Military Complex being built without any further contingency, doubt, or threat” and calling the complex “one of the Greatest ever constructed in Washington, D.C.”
The National Trust for Historic Preservation expressed disappointment, noting that the majority did not address the underlying legality of the project.