Conservationists are suing Trump over the ballroom project’s review and congressional approval

Monuments preservationists filed a lawsuit against President Donald Trump on Friday, asking a federal court to halt the White House ballroom project until it undergoes several independent reviews and receives congressional approval.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation, a privately funded group, is asking a U.S. District Court to block Trump’s White House ballroom project, which already included the demolition of the East Wing, until it undergoes comprehensive design review, environmental assessments, public comment and congressional debate and approval.

Read more: The White House is expected to present plans for a new ballroom this month

Trump’s project has drawn criticism in the historic preservation and architectural communities, and among his political opponents, but the lawsuit is the most concrete effort yet to change or stop the president’s plans to add nearly twice the size of the White House before demolishing the East Wing.

“No president is legally permitted to demolish parts of the White House without any review whatsoever — not President Trump, not President Biden, nor anyone else,” the lawsuit said. “No president is legally permitted to build a dance hall on public property without giving the public an opportunity to express their opinion.”

Additionally, the fund wants the court to declare that Trump, by expediting the project, committed multiple violations of the Administrative Procedure Act and the National Environmental Policy Act, while also exceeding his constitutional authority by failing to consult lawmakers.

He watches: The East Wing of the White House has been demolished as Trump makes room for his ballroom

The foundation says no further work should be done until administration officials complete “the required reviews — reviews that should have been done before the defendants demolished the East Wing, and before they began construction of the ballroom.”

Heavy machinery works during the demolition of the East Wing of the White House, where President Donald Trump’s proposed ballroom is being built on October 30, 2025. Photograph by Kylie Cooper/Reuters

White House press secretary Carolyn Leavitt did not immediately respond to questions from The Associated Press about the lawsuit and the project, including whether the president has any intention of consulting with Congress. Trump, a Republican, has maintained since the project was announced that he is doing so with private money, including his own. But this will not necessarily change how federal laws and procedures are applied to what is still a legitimate US government project.

The president has already gone beyond the federal government’s usual building practices and historical reviews by demolishing the East Wing. He recently added another architectural firm to the project.

Trump has long said the White House Ballroom is overdue, and has complained that events are being held outside under a tent because the East Room and State Dining Room cannot accommodate larger crowds. Trump said, among other complaints, that guests get their feet wet if it rains during such events.

Read more: The East Wing of the White House was demolished. Here’s a look at its history

The White House is expected to submit plans for the new Trump Hall to the Federal Planning Commission before the end of the year, about three months after construction begins.

Will Scharf, whom Trump appointed chairman of the National Capital Planning Commission, said at the committee’s monthly meeting last week that his White House colleagues told him the long-awaited plans would be presented in December.

“Once the plans are presented, the role of this committee and its professional staff will begin,” said Scharf, who is also a senior aide to the Republican president in the White House.

He said the review process would take place at a “normal and deliberative pace.”

The Foundation believes that this is not enough and that it is too late.

The Fund asserts that the plans should have been submitted to the National Capital Planning Commission, the Commission on Fine Arts and Congress before any action took place. The lawsuit notes that the trust wrote to those entities and the National Park Service on October 21, after demolition of the East Wing had begun, urging them to halt the project and requiring the department to comply with federal law.

“The National Fund has not received any response,” the lawsuit stated.

The lawsuit cites a series of federal laws and rules that detail the role the Planning Commission, Fine Arts and lawmakers play in U.S. government construction projects.

Among them is a statute: “No building or structure shall be erected on any reserve, park, or public land of the Federal government in the District of Columbia without the express permission of Congress.”

The Foundation also notes that scoping design and environmental reviews, along with congressional deliberations, will include public input.

“This public engagement, while important in all matters of preservation, is particularly critical here, where the structure in question is perhaps the most famous and historically significant building in the country,” the complaint says.

Besides the president, the lawsuit names as defendants the National Park Service, the Department of the Interior, and the General Services Administration, along with the leaders of those federal agencies.