The American Supreme Court on Monday, August 31, authorized Donald Trump to continue work on the monumental ballroom he wants at the White House, the American president celebrating this decision which, according to him, removes the last threat against his project.
By five votes to four, the Court with a conservative majority definitively suspended the appeal decision which had blocked the construction site while it examined the arguments of both parties.
The highest court in the United States ruled that the government had a good chance of obtaining the cancellation of the National Trust for Historic Preservation (NTHP) appeal against this construction site. But the judgment does not rule on the merits of the case. The appeal filed by the NTHP against the Republican billionaire’s project will still have to be judged by the lower courts: a process that could take several months, even years.
“Today, we are not commenting on the legality of the government’s project for the East Wing. We only conclude that, based on the arguments presented to us, the government will likely succeed in demonstrating that the Trust has no interest in taking action to challenge this project before the federal courts”, we can read in the decision. The “interest in taking action”, a condition for initiating legal action, requires the plaintiff to demonstrate that he is suffering direct harm.
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“I am pleased to announce that the Supreme Court of the United States has just ruled in favor of the construction of the ballroom/military complex without any other reservations, uncertainties or threats,” argued the American president on his Truth Social network, which will therefore be able to continue the work while waiting for the case to be judged on the merits.
600 million dollars…at the taxpayer’s expense
In a statement to AFP, the NTHP said it was “deeply disappointed” by the Supreme Court’s decision, while recalling that it had not ruled on their “fundamental argument: each president is only a temporary manager of the People’s House and does not have unilateral authority to destroy and transform it without the approval of Congress.”
In April, a federal court ordered a halt to work on the reception hall, while allowing construction of an underground bunker to continue. On August 7, an appeals court confirmed this decision, finding that such work at the White House required the explicit agreement of Congress.
In October 2025, Donald Trump bulldozed an entire wing of the White House to build a ballroom intended to accommodate up to 1,000 people, for various receptions and dinners in honor of foreign dignitaries.
The Republican president said the ballroom would be financed by private funds, but according to American media, the cost of this project, which could reach 600 million dollars, would largely fall on taxpayers.
The NTHP, a nonprofit organization mandated by Congress to preserve historic buildings, accuses the Trump administration of failing to comply with legal requirements for a public inquiry or obtain congressional authorization for the project.
With AFP
