A federal judge in the District of Columbia on Friday extended a pause on the White House ballroom renovation project, allowing only the construction of underground security facilities such as bunkers, according to Xinhua News Agency. President Donald Trump fiercely criticized the ruling, saying he will not accept it.
Judge Richard Leon of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia first suspended work on the ballroom project in late March, though construction "necessary to ensure White House security" was exempted from the order. The administration later argued in appellate court filings that the "security exception" in the ruling applied to the entire project, contending that the ballroom and the planned underground security bunker were "a single, coherent whole."
In his latest ruling on April 16, Leon wrote: "Defendants argue that the entire ballroom construction project, from start to finish, falls within the security exception and therefore may proceed. That is neither reasonable nor correct."
Trump took to social media the same day to denounce Leon as "highly political" and "unfit for office." "This ballroom is vital to national security, and no judge should be allowed to block this historic and absolutely militarily necessary major project," he wrote.
Leon delayed enforcement of his latest ruling for one week. The Trump administration said it would appeal the decision to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Carol Quillen, president and CEO of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, a U.S. historic preservation group, welcomed the court's latest decision in a statement. The trust sued Trump and several federal agencies last December, seeking to halt the ballroom renovation project until it receives congressional approval.
The White House unveiled the ballroom renovation project in late July last year, with an estimated budget of about $300 million and a projected completion date before the end of Trump's term in 2029. In October 2024, the Trump administration swiftly demolished the White House's East Wing to make way for the ballroom — a move opposed by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and other preservation groups.
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