Appeals court allows Trump's White House ballroom construction to continue into June

Trump administrationAppeals court allows Trump's White House ballroom construction to continue into JuneThe decision came a day after a federal judge halted above-ground work on the project. Listen to this article with a free account00:0000:00A federal appeals court allowed construction on President Donald Trump's White House ballroom to continue through early June. Andrew Harnik / Getty ImagesShareAdd NBC News to GoogleApril 18, 2026, 5:59 PM EDTBy Kyla Guilfoil and Gary GrumbachA federal appeals court late Friday allowed construction to continue on President Donald Trump's new White House ballroom until June, just a day after a federal judge halted progress. Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.The three-judge panel on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for Washington, D.C., wrote in an order Friday that construction can continue both on the above-ground, 90,000-square-foot ballroom and the underground military bunker that Trump has included in the $400 million project to replace the East Wing. The order scheduled oral arguments over the legality of the ballroom construction for June 5. The court's move pauses U.S. District Judge Richard Leon's Thursday order that blocked any above-ground ballroom construction from going into effect. The White House did not immediately respond to NBC News' request for comment.President Donald Trump presenting a rendering of the East Wing modernization aboard Air Force One.Mandel Ngan / AFP via Getty Images fileLeon argued Thursday that Trump was attempting to work around his earlier order that halted the project's construction until the White House received an approval from Congress, but with an exception for "actions strictly necessary to ensure the safety and security of the White House and its grounds.”In response to that order, the Trump administration argued that that exception accounted for the entire project, including the above-ground ballroom, as it w...