Supreme Court says Trump can build White House ballroom as lawsuit continues

Construction continues on a new helipad on the South Lawn of the White House and the East Wing ballroom on August 10, 2026, in Washington, DC.Andrew Harnik | Getty ImagesThe Supreme Court said Monday that President Donald Trump can continue construction of his controversial White House ballroom as legal challenges to the project play out.In the unsigned order, a majority of the nine-member court said that the plaintiff challenging the ballroom, the National Trust for Historic Preservation in the United States, is likely to be shown to lack legal standing to sue to block the $400 million ballroom project. Chief Justice John Roberts and the court's three liberal members dissented from the order."The President ordered the demolition of the East Wing of the White House to make way for a new, privately funded state ballroom in its place," the dissent said. "Construction of the ballroom has proceeded apace for the better part of a year.""That construction is likely unlawful."Roberts last week had issued a temporary stay of a U.S. District Court judge's order that had blocked the construction of the ballroom as the National Trust's lawsuit continued. The chief justice's action gave the fu...