{"id":609739,"date":"2026-04-17T07:20:21","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T07:20:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/609739\/"},"modified":"2026-04-17T07:20:21","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T07:20:21","slug":"judge-halts-trumps-ballroom-construction-permits-bunker-work-to-proceed-national","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/609739\/","title":{"rendered":"Judge halts Trump\u2019s ballroom construction, permits bunker work to proceed – National"},"content":{"rendered":"

A court halting construction of U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s<\/a> US$400 million White House ballroom<\/a> is allowing the administration to proceed with below-ground work on a bunker and other \u201cnational security facilities\u201d at the site.<\/p>\n

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A federal judge said Thursday that he would amend his order<\/a> \u201cto stop only above-ground construction of the planned ballroom\u201d in response to an appeals court\u2019s instruction to clarify an earlier decision.<\/p>\n

U.S. District Judge Richard Leon\u2019s latest ruling still blocks the Trump administration\u2019s plan to start this month on above-ground construction of a 8,400-square-metre ballroom where it demolished the East Wing of the White House.<\/p>\n

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Leon\u2019s ruling comes after the White House<\/a> asked federal appeals court to allow construction on Trump\u2019s ballroom\u00a0to continue, claiming that it creates a \u201csecurity risk\u201d for Trump and his family<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\u201cDefendants argue that the entire ballroom construction project, from tip to tail, falls within the safety-and-security exception and therefore may proceed unabated,\u201d Leon wrote in his ruling on Thursday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is neither a reasonable nor a correct reading of my Order! My Order preliminarily enjoined Defendants (excluding the President) from \u2018taking any action in furtherance of the physical development of the proposed ballroom.’\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is, to say the least, incredible, if not disingenuous, that Defendants now argue that my Order does not stop ballroom construction because of the safety-and-security exception,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Leon notes that his amended order does not \u201cstop below-ground construction of national security facilities, work necessary to provide for presidential security, and construction necessary to protect and secure the White House and the construction site itself.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe exception for underground national security facilities does not include the proposed ballroom because Defendants themselves distinguished between below-ground and above-ground construction, stating that \u2018the below-surface work is driven by national security concerns independent of the above-grade construction,’\u201d the ruling added.<\/p>\n

Leon said that the administration does not \u201cexplain why the proposed 90,000-square-foot ballroom \u2014 the source of the National Trust\u2019s claimed injury and likely unauthorized by statue \u2014 is required for security purposes\u00a0now.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The judge clarified that the defendants may \u201ccover and secure the below-ground construction while litigation proceeds.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cAs noted by our Circuit Court, the ballroom\u2019s planned security features are still months, if not years, away from being realized-belying Defendants\u2019 argument that an inability to implement those features now imposes irreparable harm.,\u201d Leon\u2019s ruling added.<\/p>\n

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Leon amended his preliminary injunction and ordered that below-ground construction may proceed, \u201cincluding the construction of any \u2018top-secret excavations, bunkers, bomb-shelters, protective partitioning, military installations, and hospital and medical facilities,\u2019 as well as such above-ground construction strictly.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, the injunction does not permit above-ground construction of the proposed ballroom,\u201d the legal docs noted.<\/p>\n

Leon said that national security \u201cis not a blank check to proceed with otherwise unlawful activity.\u201d He also said that he has \u201cno desire or intention to be dragooned into the role of construction manager.\u201d<\/p>\n

In response to Leon\u2019s ruling, Trump referred to him as \u201ca Trump Hating, Washington, D.C. District Court Judge, a man who has gone out of his way to undermine National Security, and to make sure that this Great Gift to America gets delayed, or doesn\u2019t get built.\u201d<\/p>\n

He accused Leon of \u201cattempting to prevent future Presidents and World Leaders from having a safe and secure large scale Meeting Place, or Ballroom, one with Bomb Shelters, a State of the Art Hospital and Medical Facilities, Protective Partitioning, Top Secret Military Installations, Structures, and Equipment, Protective Missile Resistant Steel, Columns, Roofs, and Beams, Drone Proof Ceilings and Roofs, Military Grade Venting, and Bullet, Ballistic, and Blast Proof Glass.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Trump said Leon\u2019s ruling \u201cmeans that no future President, living in the White House without this Ballroom, can ever be Safe and Secure at Events, Future Inaugurations, or Global Summits.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis Magnificent Space will allow them to carry out their vital duties as the Leader of our Nation. Furthermore, the Ballroom, which is being constructed on budget and ahead of schedule, is needed now,\u201d he wrote in a post on Truth Social<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis highly political Judge, and his illegal overreach, is out of control, and costing our Nation greatly. This is a mockery to our Court System! The Ballroom is deeply important to our National Security, and no Judge can be allowed to stop this Historic and Militarily Imperative Project,\u201d Trump added.<\/p>\n

In his previous order, Leon barred above-ground work on the ballroom from proceeding without congressional approval. The judge also ruled on March 31<\/a> that any construction work that\u2019s necessary to ensure the safety and security of the White House is exempt from the scope of the injunction.<\/p>\n

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Leon said he reviewed material that the government privately submitted to him before concluding that halting construction wouldn\u2019t jeopardize national security.<\/p>\n

On Saturday, a three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said it didn\u2019t have enough information to decide how much of the project can be suspended without jeopardizing the safety of the president, his family or the White House staff.<\/p>\n

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This came after a motion filed on April 3<\/a> by National Park Service lawyers, who said that the federal judge\u2019s order to suspend construction of the new facility is \u201cthreatening grave national-security harms to the White House, the President and his family, and the President\u2019s staff.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ballroom is \u201ca vital project for the safety and security of the White House and the President, his family, and his staff,\u201d the administration said. \u201cHalting construction would imperil the President and others who live and work in the White House.\u201d<\/p>\n

The motion noted that almost $400 million in \u201cprivate donations and contributions have already been committed, or spent\u201d in the purchase of building materials.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs an example, the protective missile resistant steel columns, beams, drone proof roofing materials, and bullet, ballistic, and blast proof glass, are largely made, being used, and\/or on their way to the project. Likewise, the bomb shelters, hospital and medical area, protective partitioning, and Top Secret Military installations, structures, and equipment, are built and\/or ready to be built, installed, and placed,\u201d the motion said.<\/p>\n

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\u201cTime is of the essence!\u201d the lawyers wrote, citing materials that will be installed to make a \u201cheavily fortified\u201d facility.<\/p>\n

The lawyers also said that the judge was \u201cgiven an opportunity to see the construction taking place at the site, but surprisingly, never responded to our invite.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Trump\u2019s ballroom construction plans have experienced numerous setbacks and delays.<\/p>\n

In March, the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) opened a forum where the public could comment<\/a> on the project. The commission would then vote on whether to move forward with the White House renovation.<\/p>\n

The commission received more than 32,000 written comments<\/a> \u2014 mostly negative \u2014 about the 90,000-square-foot ballroom addition.<\/p>\n

The NCPC, which oversees federal building construction, said a \u201cvast majority\u201d of the comments received \u201care in opposition to the project\u201d and noted that a high percentage of those raising objections focused on components of the project outside of the NCPC\u2019s purview.<\/p>\n

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With an 8-1 vote, Trump\u2019s ballroom won final approval<\/a> from the 12-member NCPC, allowing the plan to move forward.<\/p>\n

\u2014With files from The Associated Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A court halting construction of U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s US$400 million White House ballroom is allowing the administration…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":609740,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1376,43,44,41,39,42,40,519,2845,1971,27647],"class_list":["post-609739","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-donald-trump","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-trending","tag-u-s-news","tag-white-house","tag-white-house-ballroom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/609739","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=609739"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/609739\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/609740"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=609739"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=609739"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=609739"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}