WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration said in a court filing Monday that the president’s White House ballroom construction project must continue for national security reasons.
The filing came in response to a lawsuit filed last Friday by the National Trust for Historic Preservation that asked a federal judge to stop the project until it goes through several independent reviews and wins approval from Congress.
In its filing, the administration included a statement from the deputy director of the US Secret Service saying more work on the site of the former White House East Wing is still needed to meet the agency’s “safety and security requirements.” The administration offered to share classified details with the judge in an in-person setting without the plaintiffs present.
The government’s response to the lawsuit offers the most comprehensive look yet at the ballroom construction project, including a window into how it was approved so quickly by the Trump administration’s bureaucracy and its expanding scope.
The filings assert that final plans for the ballroom have yet to be completed despite ongoing demolition and other work to prepare the site for construction. Underground work continues on the site, wrote John Stanwich, the National Park Service liaison to the White House, and work on the foundations is expected to begin in January. Above-ground construction “is not anticipated to begin until April 2026, at the earliest,” he wrote.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation did not immediately respond to email messages seeking comment.
The privately funded group last week asked the US District Court to block the Trump ballroom addition until it undergoes comprehensive design reviews, environmental assessments, public comment and debate and congressional ratification.
Trump had the East Wing demolished in October as part of the project to build a roughly $300 million, 90,000-square-foot ballroom before his term ends in 2029.
The administration argues in the filing that the plaintiff’s claims regarding the demolition of the East Wing are “moot” because the demolition cannot be undone. The administration also argues that claims about future construction are “unripe” because the plans are not final.
The administration also claims that the National Trust for Historic Preservation cannot establish “irreparable damage” because construction on the land is not expected until April. She argues that the revisions requested in the case, consultation with the National Commission for Capital Planning and the Fine Arts Commission, “will soon be ongoing without the involvement of this Court.”
“Even if Plaintiff can overcome the threshold hurdles of mootness, immaturity, and lack of standing, Plaintiff fails to meet each of the strict requirements necessary to obtain such extraordinary preliminary relief,” the administration said.
Trump’s ballroom project has drawn criticism in the historic and architectural preservation communities, and among his political opponents, but the lawsuit is the most tangible effort yet to change or halt his plans for an addition that would itself be nearly twice the size of the White House before the East Wing was demolished.
A hearing in the case was scheduled for Tuesday in federal court in Washington.