The National Trust for Historic Preservation warned the high court that the administration is trying to “outrun judicial review.” An appeals court ordered the administration to halt construction by Friday.
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Historic preservationists on Tuesday asked the Supreme Court to keep President Donald Trump’s ballroom construction on hold while litigation plays out, warning of an administration effort to “outrun judicial review.”
The National Trust for Historic Preservation, which sued last year to halt the project, said Trump had exceeded his authority by attempting to build the planned $400 million ballroom by soliciting private donations rather than seeking congressional approval. They also criticized the White House for racing to complete its construction, with administration officials last week telling the high court that work is “65 percent complete” and that it is too late to stop the project.
“Rather than obtain permission from Congress, Petitioners have instead decided to try to outrun judicial review,” the National Trust wrote in its filing.
A divided federal appeals court panel ordered administration officials to halt construction on the ballroom by Friday unless the project is authorized by Congress — which will not happen, given that lawmakers are on recess with no plans to return before the end of the month.
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The Trump administration last week asked the court to remove that block, saying that the project must move forward for national security reasons. The president has also attacked the historical preservationists as “treasonists” for seeking to prevent his project from moving forward.
The Trust argued that if construction is not halted while courts consider the case, the Trump administration has said the project will soon progress to “beyond the point” of no return. The administration has said in its filing that crews expect to “be substantially finished by November 2026,” the trust said in its filing.
“The injuries to the National Trust, its members, and the public from the unauthorized construction of the ballroom — catalogued by Petitioners’ own Environmental Assessment and already found to be irreparable by the lower courts — will in all likelihood become irreversible,” the trust said in the filing.
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This is a developing story and will be updated.
