Trump rails against White House ballroom challenge, vows to fix ‘filthy’ reflecting pool
President Trump on Tuesday railed against a lawsuit challenging the White House ballroom construction and other projects as a judge ruled construction on the ballroom must be halted.
A federal judge ordered the administration on Tuesday to halt the construction of the ballroom until it receives congressional approval. The suit was brought by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Trump said in the Oval Office during an executive order signing that he would be appealing the ruling, and that the judge was wrong about congressional approval being needed since it wasn’t being paid for by the taxpayers.
“Many things have been built in the White House,” he said. “They haven’t gotten congressional approval, especially when the money is being not put up by the taxpayer — the taxpayers not putting up a dime.”
Earlier Tuesday the president took to social media to criticize the lawsuits against his projects.
“So, the White House Ballroom, and The Trump Kennedy Center, which are under budget, ahead of schedule, and will be among the most magnificent Buildings of their kind anywhere in the World, gets sued by a group that was cut off by Government years ago, but all of the many DISASTERS in our Country are left alone to die,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Doesn’t make much sense, does it?”
U.S. District Judge Richard Leon ruled in favor of the trust’s request for a preliminary injunction but suspended enforcement of it for 14 days, saying the case “raises novel and weighty issues, that halting an ongoing construction project may raise logistical issues,” according to The Associated Press.
He said any work that has to do with the safety and security of the White House is excluded from the injunction.
The White House ballroom construction started last fall with the demolition of the East Wing. The administration has said it will be 90,000 square feet, and Trump has said it will fit nearly 1,000 guests.
The project is being paid for by private donors, according to Trump.
Leon’s decision stems largely from Trump bypassing Congress to do construction work on a federally owned complex.
“The President of the United States is the steward of the White House for future generations of First Families,” Leon wrote at the start of his ruling. “He is not, however, the owner!”
Trump did not get permission from Congress before starting the construction, and the plans did not go through the input phase from the National Capital Planning Commission and the Commission of Fine Arts, which is required.
Trump said shortly after the ruling became public that the trust should instead go after renovations underway at the Federal Reserve, which Trump has railed against as he continues to criticize Fed Chair Jerome Powell for not lowering interest rates more aggressively.
“The National Trust for Historic Preservation sues me for a Ballroom that is under budget, ahead of schedule, being built at no cost to the Taxpayer, and will be the finest Building of its kind anywhere in the World,” Trump wrote. “I then get sued by them over the renovation of the dilapidated and structurally unsound former Kennedy Center, now, The Trump Kennedy Center (A show of Bipartisan Unity, a Republican and Democrat President!), where all I am doing is fixing, cleaning, running, and ‘sprucing up’ a terribly maintained, for many years, Building, but a Building of potentially great importance.”
“Yet, The National Trust for Historic Preservation, a Radical Left Group of Lunatics whose funding was stopped by Congress in 2005, is not suing the Federal Reserve for a Building which has been decimated and destroyed, inside and out, by an incompetent and possibly corrupt Fed Chairman,” he said.
In a separate post, he announced that he and Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum “are working on fixing the absolutely filthy Reflecting Pool between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument.”
“This work was supposed to be done by the Biden Administration, but Sleepy Joe doesn’t know what ‘CLEAN’ or proper maintenance is — The President and Secretary do!” he wrote.
The reflecting pool is just the latest beautification project that Trump has taken on in Washington. Along with the ballroom, Kennedy Center, and reflecting pool, the president also has his sights set on local golf courses and a new triumphal arch.
Updated at 7 p.m. EDT
Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
