President Donald Trump celebrated progress on his controversial White House ballroom project Saturday, one day after Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts allowed construction to continue despite an ongoing legal battle over the massive undertaking.
Trump took to Truth Social to praise the project, declaring that construction on what he called the “BALLROOM/MILITARY COMPLEX” was both under budget and ahead of schedule.
“Tremendous work has been done on the magnificent BALLROOM/MILITARY COMPLEX being built on the grounds of the White House!” Trump wrote.
The president claimed that presidents have wanted such a facility for 150 years and argued that the project would provide additional national security benefits for both the White House and Washington, D.C.
Trump also emphasized that taxpayers would not be footing the bill.
“The Ballroom will be paid for with ZERO Dollars of Taxpayer Money,” Trump wrote, saying “Great American Patriots and Companies” would cover the entire cost.
The ballroom project has generated controversy after Trump demolished the historic East Wing of the White House to clear space for the new construction without obtaining congressional approval.
That move resulted in a December lawsuit filed by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The organization accused the Trump administration of violating federal law by moving ahead without congressional authorization and failing to submit plans to the National Capital Planning Commission and the Commission of Fine Arts.
The legal battle temporarily brought construction to a halt earlier this month.
An appeals court ruled 2-1 on Aug. 7 to stop construction for 14 days, determining that the project required congressional approval. Trump subsequently took the case to the Supreme Court.
Roberts reversed that appeals court ruling, allowing work on the project to continue while the legal challenges play out.
Trump had publicly expressed confidence before the Supreme Court action that the project would be allowed to move forward.
Asked by reporters Wednesday what his administration would do if the Supreme Court ruled against him, Trump said he had difficulty envisioning such an outcome.
“We hope that doesn’t happen. I can’t imagine it happening,” Trump said.
The president also lashed out at Alison K. Hoagland, a National Trust member and historian at the center of the litigation, arguing that she lacked standing to challenge the project.
“The lawsuit, the person had no standing,” Trump said.
Trump claimed Hoagland objected to the project’s impact on the view despite construction not yet being completed and said she had not even seen a rendering of the planned ballroom.
The president defended the design, pointing to what he described as favorable reactions from architectural reviewers.
“We’ve gotten tremendous architectural reviews,” Trump said. “It’s beautiful.”
With Roberts’ decision clearing the immediate legal obstacle, construction on Trump’s White House ballroom project is once again permitted to proceed as the broader court fight continues.
