...
By Gabe Whisnant
News Editor
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
Preservationists sued President Donald Trump on Friday, asking a federal court to halt construction of a new White House ballroom until the project undergoes multiple independent reviews and receives approval from Congress.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation, a privately funded nonprofit, filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court seeking to block the $300 million ballroom project, which has already included the demolition of the White House’s East Wing. The group argues that construction should stop until the administration completes comprehensive design reviews, environmental assessments, public comment processes and congressional debate and ratification.
Why It Matters
Trump’s plan has drawn criticism from historic preservationists, architects and political opponents, but the lawsuit marks the most concrete legal effort to date to slow or stop an expansion that would be nearly twice the size of the White House as it existed before the East Wing was razed.
Read More on News
...
What To Know
In addition to Trump, the lawsuit names the National Park Service, the Department of the Interior and the General Services Administration as defendants, along with the heads of those agencies.
Newsweek has reached out to the White House, along with the Interior Department and National Parks Service, via email on Friday afternoon for comment.
The Trust is asking the court to declare that Trump violated multiple federal laws by fast-tracking the project, including the Administrative Procedure Act and the National Environmental Policy Act. The lawsuit also argues that the president exceeded his constitutional authority by moving forward without consulting Congress.
No additional work should proceed, the Trust said, until administration officials “complete the required reviews — reviews that should have taken place before the Defendants demolished the East Wing, and before they began construction of the Ballroom.”
The Republican president has repeatedly said the ballroom will be funded with private money, including his own contributions. Preservationists argue that the funding source does not exempt the project from federal laws and procedures because the White House remains a government-owned property.
Trump has already bypassed customary federal building practices and historic preservation reviews in moving forward with the East Wing demolition. He recently added another architectural firm to the project, a move that further unsettled critics who say the work has proceeded without transparency or oversight.
The president has long argued that a White House ballroom is necessary, saying existing spaces cannot accommodate large events. He has complained that guests have been forced to gather in tents on the South Lawn and that rainstorms have left attendees with wet shoes.
The White House is expected to submit formal plans for the ballroom to the National Capital Planning Commission before the end of the year, roughly three months after construction began.
The Trust argues that such a process would come far too late. The lawsuit contends that plans should have been submitted to the National Capital Planning Commission, the Commission of Fine Arts and Congress before any demolition or construction occurred.
According to the complaint, the Trust wrote to those entities and to the National Park Service on Oct. 21, after demolition of the East Wing had begun, urging the administration to stop work and comply with federal law.
“The National Trust received no response,” the lawsuit said.
The complaint cites numerous federal statutes and regulations governing construction on federal property in Washington, detailing the oversight roles of planning commissions, fine arts officials and lawmakers.
Among the statutes cited is one stating: “A building or structure shall not be erected on any reservation, park, or public grounds of the Federal Government in the District of Columbia without express authority of Congress.”
The Trust also emphasized that the required design and environmental reviews, as well as congressional consideration, are intended to include public participation.
...
What People Are Saying
Will Scharf, whom Trump named chairman of the National Capital Planning Commission, said at the commission’s monthly meeting last week that he had been told by White House colleagues that the plans would be filed in December: “Once plans are submitted, that’s really when the role of this commission, and its professional staff, will begin,” said Scharf, who also serves as one of Trump’s top White House aides.
Scharf said the review would move forward at a “normal and deliberative pace.”
The lawsuit states, “No president is legally allowed to tear down portions of the White House without any review whatsoever — not President Trump, not President Biden, and not anyone else. And no president is legally allowed to construct a ballroom on public property without giving the public the opportunity to weigh in.”
It continues, “This public involvement, while important in all preservation matters, is particularly critical here, where the structure at issue is perhaps the most recognizable and historically significant building in the country."
What Happens Next
Trump has set an approximate completion date for the White House ballroom of before the end of his second term, telling guests at the Congressional Ball Thursday it will be finished in "about a year and a half."
Updates: 12/12/25, 4:25 p.m. ET: This article was updated with new information and remarks.
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines