Judge blocks Trump White House ballroom project for now

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: CNBC

Published Tue, Mar 31 2026 3:07 PM EDT Updated 6 Min Ago


A federal judge in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday blocked, for now, the construction of the new White House ballroom, which President Donald Trump has heavily touted.

District Court Judge Richard Leon, in his order, said construction of the planned $400 million ballroom “must stop” because no law “comes close” to giving Trump legal authority to build such a structure at the White House without authorization by Congress.

Leon said that the National Trust for Historic Preservation in the United States, which had sued Trump to halt the project, was likely to prevail in the case. The judge enjoined Trump administration officials and the Executive Officer of the President, “from taking any action in furtherance of the physical development of the proposed ballroom at the former site of the East Wing of the White House.”

Leon said the order would take effect within 14 days. The delay gives Trump time to appeal the order. The White House did not immediately reply to a request for comment by CNBC about Leon’s order. CNBC also has asked the National Trust for comment.

Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/03/31/trump-white-house-ballroom-judge.html

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Ketchup ALERT.





Article updated.

Previous article -

Published Tue, Mar 31 2026 3:07 PM EDT Updated 2 Min Ago


A federal judge in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday blocked, for now, the construction of the new White House ballroom, which President Donald Trump has heavily touted.

District Court Judge Richard Leon, in his order, enjoined Trump administration officials and the Executive Officer of the President, "from taking any action in furtherance of the physical development of the proposed ballroom at the former site of the East Wing of the White House."

Leon said the order would take effect within 14 days. The delay gives Trump time to appeal the order.


This is breaking news. Please refresh for updates.

Original article -

Published Tue, Mar 31 2026 3:07 PM EDT Updated 1 Min Ago


A federal judge on Tuesday blocked, for now, the construction of the new White House ballroom that is a favorite project of President Donald Trump.

This is breaking news. Please refresh for updates.

[sinkingfeeling]

1. Let's pray it sticks.

[displacedvermoter]

2. The ketchup...?

[sinkingfeeling]

5. The judicial block.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

15. The ketchup alert status has been raised to KETCHCON 1!

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

[Roy Rolling]

28. I needed all of these memes

So many, I’ll catch up later.

[pat_k]

17. Absolutely!!

The public hates the ballroom. If this holds on appeal, I don't see it happening. I'm not even sure a majority of Republicans would vote for authorization, much less the 60 needed in the Senate:

Gift link

https://wapo.st/4m0wXuZ
Thousands of public comments slam Trump’s ballroom: ‘I did not vote for this’

A Post analysis of submitted comments found more than 97 percent were critical of the planned 90,000-square-foot addition. The White House has defended it as necessary.

[hlthe2b]

3. I would love a panel of former intelligence directors from at least four past (non Trump) administrations

to review the plans for the underground bunker. My "spider sense" is that there may be a real issue there that goes far beyond a secure planning facility that protects all within the white house during an emergency. As at least one or another knowledgeable former Trump figure has posited, could this be an attempt to avoid leaving in 2028--Trump and or his cabinet? Sounds tin-foil-like to me too, but...

[Yonnie3]

4. A bit more info from Reuters

https://www.reuters.com/world/us-judge-halts-trumps-400-million-white-house-ballroom-project-now-2026-03-31/

WASHINGTON, March 31 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge blocked Donald Trump on Tuesday from proceeding with construction of a $400 million ballroom on the site of the White House's demolished East Wing, halting ​for now one of the Republican president's most visible efforts to reshape ‌the seat of American power.

U.S. District Judge Richard Leon in Washington granted a request for a preliminary injunction by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, a nonprofit organization that brought a lawsuit alleging Trump exceeded his authority ​when he razed the historic East Wing and launched construction without approval from ​Congress.

The decision by Leon, an appointee of Republican President George W. Bush, keeps ⁠the 90,000-square-foot ballroom project on hold while the lawsuit continues.
Trump has championed the ballroom ​as a defining addition to the White House and a lasting symbol of his presidency. Leon's ​ruling marks a sharp setback for the Justice Department, which opposed the injunction and has defended the ballroom as an allowable alteration that modernizes the White House grounds.

The National Trust sued Trump and several federal agencies in ​December after the administration demolished the East Wing - originally constructed in 1902 and expanded during ​Franklin Roosevelt’s presidency - to make way for what Trump has vowed will be the “finest” ballroom in the ‌country.

...snip...

Reporting by Mike Scarcella; Editing by David Bario and Nia Williams

read more at link above

[no_hypocrisy]

6. Including Trump's Bunker, I hope.

[Marie Marie]

7. May the courts do what Trump does so well - delay until he is gone. Then let the new Democratic

President and Congress restore the WH to its original look.

[NJCher]

8. best solution right here

[Jean-Luc]

24. They should sieze his assets to pay for it

[NJCher]

9. BumRush

You made my day!!!

[LetMyPeopleVote]

10. US judge orders Trump to halt $400m White House ballroom project

US president demolished East Wing of White House last year to make way for 90,000-sq-ft project

US judge orders Donald Trump to halt 0m White House ballroom project

— Guardian US (@us.theguardian.com) 2026-03-31T19:22:32.078Z

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/mar/31/judge-blocks-trump-white-house-ballroom-plan

A US judge has blocked Donald Trump from proceeding with the construction of his $400m White House ballroom.

The US president demolished the East Wing of the White House last year to make way for the project.

US district judge Richard Leon in Washington granted a request for a preliminary injunction by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, a non-profit organization that brought a lawsuit alleging Trump exceeded his authority when he razed the historic East Wing and launched construction without approval from Congress.

The decision by Leon, an appointee of Republican president George W Bush, keeps the 90,000-sq-ft ballroom project on hold while the lawsuit continues.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

11. This ruling made me smile-Judge Richard Leon drops at least 18 of his trademark exclamation points

Link to tweet

"After all, the White House does not belong to any one man - not even a president!"

Judge Richard Leon drops at least 18 of his trademark exclamation points in ordering a stop to construction on Trump's White House ballroom (delays enforcement for 14 days so DOJ can appeal)
https://buff.ly/WG6ktOX

[BumRushDaShow]

13. "Judge Richard Leon drops at least 18 of his trademark exclamation points"

Hopefully not like "Elaine" exclamation points.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

14. Counting explanation marks in this opinion

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

[BumRushDaShow]

16. LOL!

Glad that Scott is now free and unencumbered.

[moonshinegnomie]

12. he should be ordered to pay for the rebuilding as it was

out of his own pocket,no corporate donations.

[Bayard]

18. He will try to make us pay for it

He'll make sure this does go before Congress now. How many rethugs will vote against it?

[newdeal2]

19. I want the corporations to pay twice

Traitors to our country.

[Bayard]

20. Just caught the tail end of a news flash,

Saying trump told the people working on his ball room to keep at it, and forget what the judge said.

[BigmanPigman]

21. He'll ignore this ruling and continue to do whatever HE wants

Me, Me, Me.........he doesn't give a shit about rules, the law, etc. He is TRUMP after all so he must be a GOD in his eyes. Rules/shmules, it won't stop him.

[BumRushDaShow]

22. But if the judge starts sanctioning the contracted construction companies

then they will stop work.

[BigmanPigman]

26. GOOD!

I bet the fucking moron will attempt to use his former contractors or whoever he has used throughout his lifetime to destroy wonderful buildings and erect shrines to his enormous ego. It won't be lawful and will be taken to court again (tRump spends more time in courts than he does looking at himself in a mirror) but he will try, he NEVER gives up. He LOVES to sue people. He won't change or stop until he has been dead a century....his loser relatives will continue to do this in his name as long as they can, even after he is dead...GRIFT GRIFT GRIFT is what they live for.

[jmowreader]

23. It would have been even nicer...

...if he would have been blocked BEFORE he tore down the East Wing.

[ShazzieB]

29. I'm sure it would been blocked if he'd asked for approval first.

That's why he went ahead and did it without amy warning, much less going through any kind of approval process first. By the time the East Wing demolition became common knowledge, it ws a fait accompli - a done deal.

[amcgrath]

25. The East Wing

was part of White House tours. Hopefully in the future its current state will be preserved - a scar and some rubble. I would like the names of the individuals and corporations who contributed to this sycophantic vandalism, so that those who supported him will wear that shame forever

[Doodley]

27. I would like one journalist to ask Trump why he has spent more time thinking about the Ballroom than about

the millions of people who have lost healthcare because of his actions.

[ShazzieB]

30. I have a feeling things are about to get interesting where Congress is concerned.

Based on the judge's ruling, Schlump is going to have to seek Congressional approval to continue this project. It's true that Repubs in both Houses have a history of rolling over for him, but I'm not sure they'll flock to do that this time. There's an election coming up in a few months, in which every member of the House and one third (I think?) of the Senate are up for reelection. The ballroom is VERY UNPOPULAR with the American people, and Repubs are uncomfortably aware that things are already not looking good for their party in November.

I'm not saying none of the Repub members of the House and Senate will vote to approve this, but I'd be surprised if it wasn't an uphill battle at best. The Senate will be the hardest nut to crack, because the Repub majority there is razor thin, and more than just Repubs would have to support it because of the filibuster. Good luck with that, GOP.

The Repubs in the House are very worried about the election and will likely be nervous about how approving the ballroom could affect it. Even the ones representing "safe" red districts are worried about losing the House majority. I think they'll all see this issue as a hot potato that they'll be very reluctant to touch.

I'm sure there will be a ton of pressure on the Repubs to approve the ballroom, but they're going to be pushed and pulled hard in conflicting directions. They'll have to choose between antagonizing Trump and antagonizing voters right before an important election. That's why I think things are going to get very interesting.

Could this be the issue where Repubs finally get the nerve to stand up to that madman? I wouldn't bet on it, but I think a lot of them may turn themselves into pretzels trying to figure out to keep Schlump happy without losing lots of votes. I would not want to be in Moses Mike Johnson's shoes right now!