View debris from the East Wing removed outside the White House during demolition
Workers continued to remove the remains of the East Wing of the White House after President Trump announced plans to build a banquet hall in its place.
A federal judge is expected to rule this month on whether construction on President Donald Trump’s $400 million White House ballroom can continue after historic preservation groups challenged the project in court.
The ruling could be announced just before the federal government’s central planning agency, the National Capital Planning Commission, plans to vote on the project. The 12-member commission, the majority of whom are allies appointed by President Trump, will hold a hearing on March 5.
But the story does not end with the judge’s verdict.
“I know there will be an appeal. No matter who wins, the other side will appeal,” U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon said last month. “So this case will definitely end up in the D.C. Circuit, and probably all the way to the Supreme Court. Who knows?”
At issue is a lawsuit filed in December by the National Trust for Historic Preservation against President Trump and several federal agencies, seeking to halt construction of the 90,000-square-foot ballroom. The nonprofit group argued that Trump should have sought Congressional approval before demolishing the East Tower.
The Trump campaign countered in court that the president did not need approval from lawmakers because the project was funded by private donations and not with taxpayer dollars.
President Trump’s project has undergone various changes in funding, seating capacity and cost since the White House first announced plans in July. Prices jumped from $200 million to $400 million, and the banquet hall could now accommodate 1,000 people.
What is the court considering?
Judge Leon, who was appointed by President George W. Bush, said the case involves many “novel” issues. He is considering whether the president has the authority to demolish the east wing and build a banquet hall using an intentionally complicated private financing arrangement while circumventing Congressional approval.
At last month’s hearing, Leung also said he wants the Trump administration to clearly state what the “line” is between what is and is not allowed when it comes to construction and demolition of the White House complex going forward.
“If the plan was to bulldoze the entire White House and build something completely different in its place, I think that would be ‘changes and improvements’ beyond what the president authorized,” defense attorney Jacob Ross said.
“I hope so,” Leon responded, but also noted that the administration had “stretched this language quite a bit.”
Mr. Ross also described Executive Mansion as a “core site.” He said Congress declared the site by statute in 1961 to be “of significant preservation importance.”
Questions swirl over Ballroom’s financing
The nonprofit organization The Trust for the National Mall is managing the $400 million endowment for the project.
Donors include U.S. companies that do business with the U.S. government, including Palantir, Lockheed Martin and Meta, according to a list provided by the White House.
In response to a January letter from Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.), the National Mall Trust said it would receive “2% to 2.5%” of each donation it receives.
In a separate statement, the lawmakers said that for the $400 million in donations to the Ballroom, the trust “will collect between $8 million and $10 million from its fundraising role for President Trump’s Ballroom.” The Trust has sponsored more than $100 million in restoration projects with the National Park Service since 2007.
“These new details add to the growing concern that Donald Trump’s gilded banquet hall has become a vector for corruption,” Warren said. “We now know that the trust is raking in millions of dollars in Trump social event fundraising, and the trust’s board of directors, made up of business leaders who could benefit from preferential treatment from Trump, specifically agreed to take on this.”
Underground bunkers and national security concerns
The judge could base his decision on several other factors, including the existence of the bunker, which the Trump administration has argued is a national security issue.
Since the 1940s, an underground bomb shelter has been constructed in the East Tower to protect the president’s safety amid concerns about air attack during World War II. The center, known as the Presidential Emergency Operations Center (PEOC), is intended to serve as the president’s command center in the event of a situation.
It was demolished in October to make way for the ballroom. Lawyers for the administration argue that halting construction midway through would pose security concerns for the president.
In a Jan. 25 post on Truth Social, President Trump said the lawsuit filed by the National Trust for Historic Preservation has exposed “top secret facts” about the involvement of the U.S. military and Secret Service in several aspects of the project, including its design.
Lawyers for the preservation group argued that there was nothing wrong with rebuilding “the bunkers and other national security elements.” However, they opposed using this as an excuse to continue construction of the banquet hall without approval.
“I would respectfully suggest that perhaps they should have considered that before demolishing it in the first place,” said Thaddeus Heuer, a lawyer for the preservation group.
Public hearing on ballroom project
The National Capital Planning Commission is scheduled to vote on the project on March 5. A virtual public hearing will also be held on the same day, with comments available on a first-come, first-served basis.
Carol Quillen, president and CEO of the National Trust, said President Trump’s project would “dwarf the White House itself” at 55,000 square feet with 90,000 square feet of new construction, adding that “[the addition]also has the potential to permanently disrupt the White House’s carefully balanced classical design, with its two small, low east and west wings.”
Initial site excavation and other construction work for the ballroom is already underway, and President Trump hopes to have it completed by the end of his second term in January 2029. He said he hopes future presidential inaugurations will be held at the banquet hall.
The NCPC said details of the testimony schedule would be shared soon, given the expected “large public participation.”
A court filing last month indicated registration would begin on February 12, but registration has not yet begun.
On February 13, NCPC also posted new renderings of the east wing submitted by architect Shalom Baranes. Renderings showed that the impressive new east wing would be approximately one city block long, longer than the west wing, almost completely obscuring the view of the Treasury building from the south lawn.
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy is USA TODAY’s White House correspondent. You can follow her at X @SwapnaVenugopal.
