US Supreme Court temporarily allows White House ballroom construction to continue

The US Supreme Court has temporarily allowed construction of a new White House ballroom to continue, freezing lower court rulings that had ordered work to stop. The Trump administration said the privately funded project was 65 per cent complete.

Washington: The US Supreme Court on Friday (US local time) temporarily allowed the construction of a White House ballroom to continue.

Chief Justice John Roberts issued a temporary stay that freezes lower court rulings that would have required construction to stop, without addressing the legality of the project.

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In court filings, the Trump administration said that as of August 14, construction was 65 per cent complete on the 400-million-US-dollar, privately funded project. The filing also showed that a 250-person crew has been working 20 hours a day, seven days a week, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Supreme Court’s latest move came two weeks after a divided federal appeals court in Washington ruled on August 7 that US President Donald Trump had been unlawfully constructing the new ballroom at the White House.

The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit paused the ruling for 14 days to allow the administration to seek Supreme Court review.

The ruling, which sided with the National Trust for Historic Preservation, noted that over just three days in October 2025, “without undertaking promised consultations or obtaining Congress’s permission,” Trump bulldozed the entire East Wing in order to construct a massive, 90,000-square-foot ballroom paid for by private funds with “no congressional oversight.” Trump’s proposed White House ballroom expansion has been primarily backed by the White House and many congressional allies, but it has faced pushback and concern from several Republicans in Congress.

Earlier in July, Trump said that the restoration of the White House is a symbol of what he called America’s broader renewal, arguing that the country’s most recognisable building should reflect national strength, history and confidence.

Speaking from the Rose Garden on July 7, Trump devoted a significant portion of his remarks to the renovation of the White House, describing the work as both a preservation effort and a statement about the country’s future.

He also argued that the United States should possess ceremonial facilities equal to or surpassing those of other world powers.

“I was in the Great Hall of China recently… They have a very large ballroom… we’re going to have one that tops everything,” Trump said.