A prominent preservationist group is suing President Donald Trump over his construction of a massive ballroom, arguing that he sidestepped legally required reviews.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation, a nonprofit chartered by Congress to protect historic buildings and neighborhoods, filed the lawsuit Friday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
“No president is legally allowed to tear down portions of the White House without any review whatsoever—not President Trump, not President Biden, and not anyone else,” the lawsuit says. “And no president is legally allowed to construct a ballroom on public property without giving the public the opportunity to weigh in.”
The suit contends that Trump was legally required to obtain reviews and approvals before demolishing the historic East Wing and beginning work on the 90,000-square-foot ballroom.
“[These] reviews should have taken place before the Defendants demolished the East Wing, and before they began construction of the Ballroom,” the filing states.
In addition to Trump, the lawsuit names the National Park Service, the Department of the Interior, the General Services Administration, and their respective agency heads as defendants.
The group is seeking a court-ordered work stoppage “until the necessary federal commissions have reviewed and approved the project’s plans; adequate environmental review has been conducted; and Congress has authorized the Ballroom’s construction.”
Carol Quillen, the Trust’s president and CEO, told Axios that the organization was compelled to act because of its mission to “protect places where our history happened.”
The nonprofit argues that the construction violated the Administrative Procedure Act and the National Environmental Policy Act by failing to consult the National Capital Planning Commission, a federal agency charged with guiding urban planning.
A Virginia couple filed a similar lawsuit in October to block the demolition but voluntarily dismissed it days later. According to Politico, Friday’s filing represents the most significant legal challenge to the renovations so far.
The White House has defended the project and declined to say whether construction will stop amid ongoing litigation.
“President Trump has full legal authority to modernize, renovate, and beautify the White House—just like all of his predecessors did,” spokesperson Davis Ingle said.
Construction on the ballroom began after the East Wing’s demolition in October, and the project—which is projected to cost between $200 and $300 million—has sparked backlash.
The administration will reportedly submit final plans to a federal planning commission this month and has recruited additional architects to oversee the project.
Notably, this saga is unfolding against an economic backdrop that already has voters on edge. Rent keeps rising, grocery prices haven’t meaningfully dropped, and wages feel stubbornly flat.
In that context, the ballroom is a political liability. Even some Republican voters have questioned the optics of building a luxury addition while voters tighten their budgets.
Where the lawsuit goes from here is uncertain—but the idea of the court blocking construction after the East Wing has already been razed has not gone unnoticed.
