John Roberts lets Trump keep building White House ballroom—for now

✅Chief Justice Roberts temporarily allowed work on White House ballroom to continue

✅The order came hours before lower-court rulings could have forced a halt to aboveground construction.

✅The Supreme Court has not made a final decision on whether Trump needed congressional approval for the project

Chief Justice John Roberts on Friday allowed the White House to continue construction on President Donald Trump’s $400 million ballroom project for now, as the Supreme Court considers the Trump administration's emergency request to intervene in lawsuits over the project.

The temporary order comes hours before lower-court rulings would have forced a halt to aboveground construction. It will remain in place until the court issues a more durable decision, though the one-page document does not detail Roberts' reasoning or indicate when another ruling will be handed down.

The order pauses the decision of a Washington-based judge who found that work must stop because Trump didn't get congressional approval. It was signed by Roberts because he oversees appeals of cases filed in the capital.

Trump's ballroom project can keep moving—for now

The case comes before the nation’s highest court as Trump, a Republican, exercises unparalleled assertions of presidential power and increasingly seeks to mold the capital in his own image.

The Trump administration has scored a series of victories on the high court’s emergency docket, though the justices have ruled against some of the president's signature policies after fuller review.

The administration has argued that the president has total authority to renovate the White House and other federal buildings as he sees fit and that the ballroom project must be completed because of national security concerns.

When Trump first announced plans for a new ballroom, he did not emphasize national security. He said the project would be funded by private donations, including from himself.

Artist renderings relating to White House Ballroom construction, contained in a filing by the Trump administration to the U.S. Supreme Court, are photographed Friday, Aug. 14, 2026.

White House ballroom replaced the demolished East Wing

The National Trust for Historic Preservation argues that Trump has no unilateral authority to undertake the work, which has included demolishing the East Wing. Lawyers for the preservation group accused the White House of trying to “outrun the courts” by accelerating construction.

A spokesperson for the trust said Friday that Roberts' order is not a final decision and that the group is awaiting further action from the court.

The White House did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.

The Trump administration says 65% of the work has already been completed on the planned 90,000-square-foot (8,400-square-meter) ballroom, where the East Wing stood before the president ordered its demolition. Crews are working 20 hours a day, seven days a week on the project, where about $200 million in private donations has been spent or committed, according to court documents filed by the Justice Department.

Lower courts said Congress should decide the project

A district court judge ordered a stop to aboveground construction of the planned ballroom in April in a ruling that was suspended before being upheld by an appeals court panel. The order from U.S. District Judge Richard Leon in Washington allows belowground work on bunkers and military installations to continue. Leon was nominated by President George W. Bush, a Republican.

Two appeals-court judges appointed by Democratic presidents found the project was for Congress to decide and “not a matter for Executive self-help.” A third judge, appointed by Trump, found that the preservationist group challenging the project had no legal standing to sue.

Solicitor General D. John Sauer picked up on that argument, calling the decision halting the work “extraordinary and unlawful.” He said completion of the project was “vitally required by national security.”

(Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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