DOJ Claims That Trump's $400 Million Ballroom Is Necessary For National Security [View all]
Source: Huff Post
Feb 3, 2026, 01:10 PM EST | Updated 12 minutes ago
Facing an imminent district court decision that could halt construction on President Donald Trump’s $400 million White House ballroom project, Department of Justice lawyers are now indicating that they will appeal any adverse decision by arguing that the proposed ballroom has “national security implications.”
“If the Court ultimately enjoins the East Wing Modernization and State Ballroom Project,” the Trump administration would “immediately appeal that order,” Justice Department lawyers said in a court filing on Monday. “Given the exigencies involved in suspending a major ongoing construction project with national security implications, Defendants are filing this motion in advance of any ruling, to avoid an emergency situation or at least to facilitate expedited proceedings on appeal.” The administration claimed that building a permanent space for large events would increase security.
The case came to the D.C. district court after the National Trust for Historic Preservation in the United States sued to stop construction of the ballroom following the surprise demolition of the White House’s East Wing. The trust argued that the project was illegal as the administration failed to properly notify and involve Congress, the National Capital Planning Commission and the Commission on Fine Arts and did not conduct proper environmental assessments.
This isn’t the first invocation of national security in the ongoing lawsuit over Trump’s ballroom. It is, however, the most direct explanation of how the administration plans to get an appeals court or the U.S. Supreme Court to overrule a decision that halts construction on the president’s premier vanity project.
Read more: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-ballroom-court_n_698230bce4b00e89c72e3c11?origin=home-latest-news-unit
Link to FILING (PDF) - https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.287645/gov.uscourts.dcd.287645.39.0.pdf
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