White House ballroom moves forward

A federal appeals court said on April 11 that construction on President Donald Trump’s White House ballroom can keep going for now while the legal fight returns to a trial judge. (nbcnews.com) The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit extended a temporary pause of Judge Richard Leon’s March 31 order, which had halted the project unless Congress approved it. The appeals panel said Leon should take another look at how much work could be stopped without creating security risks. (cbsnews.com) Leon had ruled that no law “comes close” to giving Trump authority to build the ballroom without Congress and said the president is the White House’s “steward,” not its owner. His order blocked further construction on the $400 million project at the site of the demolished East Wing. (abcnews.com) The White House announced in July 2025 that the new State Ballroom would total about 90,000 square feet, seat 650 people, and replace the East Wing, which it said had been heavily altered over time. The administration said Trump and other donors would fund the project, then estimated at about $200 million, and said Clark Construction, AECOM, McCrery Architects, the National Park Service and the United States Secret Service were involved in planning. (whitehouse.gov) By late March 2026, news reports and court filings were describing the project as a $400 million build, and preservation groups were arguing that the White House could not bypass the normal federal review and approval process for major changes on the grounds. The National Trust for Historic Preservation said the National Capital Planning Commission has review authority over new construction on federal property in Washington, and the United States Commission of Fine Arts gives advisory review for White House construction. (cnbc.com) (savingplaces.org) The National Capital Planning Commission voted on April 2 to approve the ballroom’s site and design even after Leon’s ruling, with members debating whether the review was a formal legal requirement or “voluntary cooperation.” That approval did not end the lawsuit over whether Trump needed Congress before building. (military.com) A separate dispute now centers on what steel is being used. Snopes, citing a New York Times report, said ArcelorMittal, a Luxembourg-based steelmaker, was providing steel for the ballroom structure and that the steel was produced in Europe, but added that the White House had not publicly documented the donation and that the claim could not be fully verified from public records. (snopes.com) Trump said in October that he had been offered a steel donation worth about $37 million for the ballroom, and later reporting tied that offer to ArcelorMittal. Mother Jones and other outlets then pointed to the timing of a later tariff change affecting automotive steel from an ArcelorMittal plant in Canada, while the White House has not publicly released evidence showing whether the ballroom steel came from the United States or abroad. (whitehouse.gov) (motherjones.com) For now, cranes and construction crews can stay on the job while Leon reconsiders the security question and the appeals court’s pause runs through at least April 17. The larger question Leon raised on March 31 — whether Congress must authorize the ballroom at all — is still unresolved. (usatoday.com)