A federal appeals court on Friday ordered the Trump administration to stop building its White House ballroom. The court said the project needs approval from Congress first.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued the 136-page ruling on Aug. 7, 2026. A panel of three judges ruled 2-1 against the administration. The court said it would wait two weeks before enforcing its order, giving the administration time to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, NPR reported. The ruling and the two-week wait were documented in the court's published opinion.

The lawsuit was brought by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, a nonprofit group created by Congress. The group sued the administration in December 2025. It wanted the project stopped until the legally required review process was finished, including getting approval from Congress. The case challenged President Donald Trump's power to tear down the White House East Wing without lawmakers' permission.

President Trump called the court's decision "horrendous, politically motivated and unlawful" and said his administration would appeal immediately. He pointed out that the two judges who ruled against him were appointed by Democratic presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

The administration had argued the ballroom is a national security matter. It also argued that the group suing did not have legal standing — meaning a direct enough connection to the issue to be allowed to file the lawsuit.

The White House announced plans to build a roughly 90,000-square-foot ballroom at the site of the East Wing on July 31, 2025. The ballroom, to be built in President's Park using privately donated funds, is expected to seat 1,000 guests. Demolition of the East Wing began in October 2025 to make room for the new construction.

Cost estimates for the project have varied. The White House originally estimated the ballroom's cost at $200 million. The Washington Post reported in June 2026 that the total cost could reach at least $600 million. An April 2026 report in The Daily Record placed the project's cost at $400 million.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation first sued to stop construction in December 2025. On April 11, 2026, a three-judge D.C. Circuit panel ruled 2-1 that construction could continue temporarily while the lower court ruling was reviewed, extending a freeze until April 17, 2026. The Guardian reported on April 18, 2026 that the administration was cleared to continue construction after the project had been stopped.

At a June 5, 2026 hearing, the D.C. Circuit appeals court panel sharply questioned the administration's authority to build the ballroom without congressional approval. Reuters reported at the time that the appeals court could rule within weeks in the preservation group's challenge.

SCOTUSblog reported in June 2026 that the White House ballroom dispute may soon arrive at the Supreme Court. With the D.C. Circuit's Friday ruling and its two-week wait, the administration now has a direct path to take the matter to the high court.

Brent Leggs, president and CEO of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, celebrated the appeals court ruling.

The broader context here is a separation-of-powers dispute — a disagreement over which branch of government has the authority to act. The question is whether the executive branch can change a historically protected federal site on its own. The administration's argument that the ballroom is a national security facility, combined with its use of private donations, tests the limits of Congress's power to oversee changes to the White House grounds and President's Park. The D.C. Circuit's 136-page opinion says these reasons do not override the need for lawmakers' approval, setting up a Supreme Court review on whether the executive branch can make major changes to the White House complex without Congress.