Berk Kutay Gökmen
07 August 2026•Update: 08 August 2026
A federal appeals court on Friday blocked President Donald Trump’s plan to build a large new ballroom at the White House, setting the stage for a potential legal battle before the Supreme Court.
“Each President is a temporary tenant, not the owner, of the White House and its Executive Residence. The President has no -- and claims no -- constitutionally assigned authority over that property, which is designed and maintained for the use of all Presidents, current and future, and for the American people,” the DC Circuit Court of Appeals said in a 2-1 ruling, siding with the nation’s top historic preservation group.
“The National Trust has shown, compellingly, that Congress has not ceded unfettered authority to the Executive Branch to dramatically redesign, reshape, and reconstruct the White House -- the People’s House -- to fit a particular President’s desires,” it wrote in its unsigned opinion.
The court also delayed the effect of its ruling for two weeks, allowing Trump to appeal to the nation’s highest court.
In response to the decision, Trump said: “We will be immediately appealing to the United States Supreme Court.”
“The Military and Secret Service are viewing this horrendous, politically motivated, and unlawful ruling as a National Security threat to our Nation in that the entire Complex is being built for the protection of our Country and, additionally, all future Presidents,” he wrote on his Truth Social platform.
“There will be no expense to the American Taxpayer. This unjust decision must be overturned by the Supreme Court in its entirety,” he added.
In a later post on Truth Social, Trump again criticized the ruling, arguing that two of the judges who issued the decision were appointed by former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
"Two Judges, one appointed by Barack Hussein Obama, the other by Sleepy Joe Biden," Trump wrote, referring to the judges who ruled against his plan.
Arguing that US presidents are not "tenants" of the White House because they are elected by the American people, Trump claimed that they have the authority to "fix, renovate, secure, protect, and beautify" the White House grounds.
Trump said the White House has been "built and rebuilt, renovated and rerenovated, repaired and, simply, MADE BETTER" many times since 1792 without requiring permission from Congress or others.
Describing the ruling as a "National Security Threat at the highest level," he called it "a National Disgrace," while reiterating his defense of the planned complex, which he said includes a "SECURE Ballroom/Military Complex" and a major drone port on the roof.
