Judge Orders Trump to Halt Construction of Ballroom Beneath White House
A United States judge, Richard Leon, has ordered US President Donald Trump to temporarily halt the construction of a ballroom beneath the White House. Leon emphasised that Trump is not the owner of the White House.
“Trump is the ‘custodian’ of the White House, but he is not its owner!” stated Judge Richard Leon, as reported by AFP on Wednesday (1 April 2026).
He stressed that congressional approval would be required for the project’s continuation. Meanwhile, Leon issued the ruling in response to a legal challenge from the National Trust for Historic Preservation in the United States, a non-profit organisation dedicated to protecting historic buildings.
“The ballroom construction project must be halted until Congress approves its completion,” said Leon, offering a two-week postponement of his order to allow Trump to appeal.
“No law comes close to the authority claimed by the president. The president can go to Congress at any time to obtain explicit authority to build the ballroom and do so with private funds. Indeed, Congress could choose to allocate funds for the ballroom,” he continued.
“In any case, Congress will continue to retain its authority over government property and its oversight of government spending,” he added.
Trump, a billionaire real estate developer, has not hidden his enthusiasm for the ballroom project. He shocked many by suddenly demolishing an entire section of the White House last October, announcing the need for a new large-scale event centre.
Since then, the 79-year-old Republican politician has rarely missed an opportunity to discuss the project, often veering off-topic in his speeches to delve into details of the proposed facility’s architecture.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday (31 March), Trump criticised the National Trust on social media, calling the group a “Crazy Radical Left Group.” He insisted that the ballroom would be “the best building of its kind anywhere in the world.”
The ballroom would be Trump’s biggest mark on the US capital since returning to office in January 2025. Trump stated that the cost of the ballroom, initially proposed at $200 million but now estimated at $400 million, would be covered by private donors, including his wealthy supporters and several companies.