A federal judge once again halted President Trump’s White House ballroom project, the second stoppage of construction in two weeks.
The judge issued a new order after the administration argued it could keep building despite his original ruling blocking construction.
U.S. District Judge Richard Leon, appointed by former President George W. Bush, first halted the roughly $400 million project on March 31, granting a preliminary injunction sought by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Construction “must stop until Congress authorizes its completion,” the judge ruled. It carved out an exception for work “strictly necessary to ensure the safety and security of the White House and its grounds.”
The Trump administration argued that exception covered the entire ballroom project — since the whole structure, it claimed, is necessary for White House security. The judge rejected that argument.
“Defendants argue that the entire ballroom construction project, from tip to tail, falls within the safety-and-security exception and therefore may proceed unabated,” Leon wrote Thursday. “That is neither a reasonable nor a correct reading of my Order!”
“It is, to say the least, incredible, if not disingenuous, that Defendants now argue that my Order does not stop ballroom construction because of the safety-and-security exception!”
Leon said that underground construction — including a new national security bunker beneath the former East Wing site — can continue, as long as it does not “lock in the above-ground size and scale of the ballroom.” Above-ground ballroom construction must again stop.
The new order takes effect in seven days, giving the administration time to appeal.
In his original ruling, Leon had written that Trump is “the steward of the White House for future generations of First Families. He is not, however, the owner!”
Trump fired back on Truth Social after the original March 31 ruling, calling the National Trust for Historic Preservation a “Radical Left Group of Lunatics” and defending the project as “under budget, ahead of schedule, being built at no cost to the Taxpayer.”
He argued that congressional approval “has never been given” for past White House construction projects and noted the ballroom is funded entirely through private donations.
“We built many things at the White House over the years,” Trump told reporters. “They don’t get congressional approval.”
The ballroom — designed with Greco-Roman columns and spanning 90,000 square feet — was described by the White House as a state event venue with a seated capacity of 650, a significant expansion over the East Room’s previous limit. It is slated for completion by 2028. The East Wing was demolished in October 2025 to make way for the project.