Appeals Court Blocks White House Ballroom Project, Trump Warns of Supreme Court Appeal: “Political and Terrible Decision

Donald Trump has announced that he will appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court after a federal appeals court in Washington barred his administration from continuing work on the construction of a large ballroom at the White House.

In a response published on the Truth Social platform, the U.S. president called the decision “political” and announced that an appeal to the Supreme Court would be filed immediately.

“The Supreme Court must completely overturn this unjust decision. The military and intelligence agencies consider the federal appeals court’s decision terrible, politically motivated and illegal,” Trump wrote.

The Court of Appeals had earlier concluded that the Trump administration was illegally carrying out work on the ballroom at the White House.

In a 2-1 vote, the panel ruled in favor of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the largest organization in the United States dedicated to protecting historic heritage, which had opposed the project.

In its reasoning, the court emphasized that U.S. presidents are merely “temporary residents, not owners” of the White House and the presidential residence.

“Every president is a temporary resident, not an owner, of the White House and the presidential residence. The president has neither been granted nor claims to have any specific constitutional authority over this property, which was designed and maintained for the use of all past and future presidents, as well as the American people,” the decision stated, according to CNN.

The panel also pointed out that the National Trust for Historic Preservation had presented evidence that Congress had not granted the executive branch unlimited authority to “drastically redesign, remodel and rebuild the White House—the People’s House—to accommodate the wishes of a particular president.”

However, the decision will not take effect immediately. The Court of Appeals delayed its implementation for two weeks so that the Trump administration would have time to appeal the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.