On December 16, 2025, U.S. District Judge Richard Leon, appointed by President Bush, denied the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s request for a temporary halt to underground construction on President Trump’s privately funded White House ballroom, allowing the work to continue.
For context, the 90,000 sq ft structure will replace the demolished East Wing and is designed to host indoor events for foreign dignitaries. Work on the above-ground structure will start in April 2026 at the earliest, and the project is set to be finished in the summer of 2028.
Explaining his thoughts, U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon wrote, “The government should be prepared to take it down.” Additionally, he stated, “The court will hold them to that,” when the Trump Administration promised to submit plans by the end of the year.
Speaking about the progress at a recent event, the president said, “We’re going to have something that’s really, really spectacular. And I thank the judge in the case for the courage in making the proper decision, because we didn’t want to be held up.”
Making a fool of himself, Tad Heuer, a lawyer for the National Trust for Historic Preservation, decried the “Woefully inadequate” ruling from the judge. “There are pile-drivers running around the clock. There’s ongoing construction. Every day you have more concrete, more footprint,” he whined.
Offering a different take, Attorney General Pam Bondi quipped, “President Trump has faced countless bad-faith left-wing legal attacks — this was no different. We will continue defending the President’s project in court in the coming weeks.”
As we reported at the American Tribune, the National Trust for Historic Preservation claimed, “No president is legally allowed to tear down portions of the White House without any review whatsoever — not President Trump, not President Biden, and not anyone else.”
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Continuing this biased tirade, the GNO alleged, “And no president is legally allowed to construct a ballroom on public property without giving the public the opportunity to weigh in. The President, acting unilaterally, is wholly without constitutional authority to build or demolish anything on federal Grounds.”
Melting down in his own statement, Carol Quillen, President and CEO, National Trust for Historic Preservation, whined, “The White House is arguably the most evocative building in our country and a globally recognized symbol of our powerful American ideals. As the organization charged with protecting places where our history happened, the National Trust was compelled to file this case.”
However, White House spokesperson Davis Ingle demolished these feeble claims. “President Trump has full legal authority to modernize, renovate, and beautify the White House – just like all of his predecessors did,” he expertly explained.
However, anti-Trump critics have decreed the renovations nevertheless. “Don’t even think of seeking the Democratic nomination for president unless you pledge to take a wrecking ball to the Trump Ballroom on DAY ONE, said the woke Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA), “Or, as @RubenGallego proposes, rename it the Barack Obama Ballroom. But a Trump monument to corruption will not stand.”
Watch CNN freak out over the president’s ballroom here: