{"id":8948,"date":"2026-08-08T19:05:24","date_gmt":"2026-08-08T19:05:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=8948"},"modified":"2026-08-08T19:05:24","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T19:05:24","slug":"a-concrete-frame-and-four-towering-walls-how-trumps-ballroom-blocked-by-appeals-court-has-taken-shape","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=8948","title":{"rendered":"A concrete frame and four towering walls: How Trump\u2019s ballroom, blocked by appeals court, has taken shape"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<p>\n            President Donald Trump has dug himself a hole.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            The future of construction on his sprawling East Wing ballroom is uncertain after a divided appeals court ruled Friday that he is unlawfully constructing the project.\n    <\/p><p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=8932\">Is watching too much TV bad for your brain? Possibly<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n            What happens next could be up to the nation\u2019s highest court \u2014 to which Trump said he\u2019d appeal \u2014 potentially Congress and maybe even his successor.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            \u201cThere is no clear path to this being resolved one way or the other while he is president. The likelihood that we have a hole in the ground because of political realities \u2014 not because of construction realities \u2014 is very high through the end of his term,\u201d said Greg Werkheiser, a historic preservationist and lawyer who is embroiled in a separate lawsuit with the White House over another Trump pursuit, an effort to paint the nearby Eisenhower Executive Office Building.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            The ballroom \u2014 like many of Trump\u2019s construction projects around Washington, DC \u2014 is unpopular with the public. But it\u2019s a major priority for the president, who has championed it at every opportunity and been involved in design details big and small.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            \u201cThe entire Complex, Military and all, is largely built, fabricated, and paid for. Much is already on site, or being delivered,\u201d Trump wrote on Truth Social after Friday\u2019s ruling, blasting the court and asking why the nation\u2019s top historic preservation group didn\u2019t sue before construction started.\n    <\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-medium_large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"The facade of the East Wing of the White House is demolished on October 20, 2025.\" class=\"wp-image-8941\" height=\"503\" src=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/d14cea638f42c5adf445c5c10ffe58f0-768x503.jpg\" width=\"768\" srcset=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/d14cea638f42c5adf445c5c10ffe58f0-768x503.jpg 768w, https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/d14cea638f42c5adf445c5c10ffe58f0-300x196.jpg 300w, https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/d14cea638f42c5adf445c5c10ffe58f0.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<span>The facade of the East Wing of the White House is demolished on October 20, 2025.<\/span>\n<\/div>\n<figcaption>Kevin Dietsch\/Getty Images<\/figcaption>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2>\n        Nearly six months of construction\n<\/h2>\n<p>\n            Planning for the ballroom began in the early months of Trump\u2019s second term, with the White House formally announcing it on July 31, 2025.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            The announcement made no mention of demolishing the East Wing, which for decades served as headquarters for first ladies and their staff, nor did it frame the project as a national security imperative \u2014 an argument Trump didn\u2019t begin making until February 2026.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            In late October 2025, the East Wing was razed and workers began a monthslong excavation effort resulting in a very large hole in the ground. The National Trust for Historic Preservation launched a legal challenge in December.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            In late February 2026, crews began work on the foundation, filling in that hole with the below-ground portion of the building, which will house a highly secretive underground bunker complex aimed at modernizing aging underground infrastructure.\n    <\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-medium_large\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"President Donald Trump talks to reporters about his proposed White House ballroom next to the worksite on May 19, in Washington, DC.\" class=\"wp-image-8942\" height=\"512\" src=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/88b00858b390ea7312d607ab86830d2b.jpg\" width=\"768\" srcset=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/88b00858b390ea7312d607ab86830d2b.jpg 768w, https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/88b00858b390ea7312d607ab86830d2b-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<span>President Donald Trump talks to reporters about his proposed White House ballroom next to the worksite on May 19, in Washington, DC.<\/span>\n<\/div>\n<figcaption>Chip Somodevilla\/Getty Images<\/figcaption>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-medium_large\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"President Donald Trump displays a rendering of his proposed $250 million White House ballroom as he meets with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office of the White House on October 22, 2025 in Washington, DC.\" class=\"wp-image-8943\" height=\"512\" src=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/81818ea0ce296dd43f8606bb1746b71e.jpg\" width=\"768\" srcset=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/81818ea0ce296dd43f8606bb1746b71e.jpg 768w, https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/81818ea0ce296dd43f8606bb1746b71e-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<span>President Donald Trump displays a rendering of his proposed $250 million White House ballroom as he meets with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office of the White House on October 22, 2025 in Washington, DC.<\/span>\n<\/div>\n<figcaption>Alex Wong\/Getty Images<\/figcaption>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n            So far, according to a CNN analysis of photos and floor plans, the above-ground construction of the ballroom has been limited to pouring heavily reinforced concrete columns, walls and floors. The areas where the concrete frame has been completed include new offices for the first lady, some of the kitchen and some entry halls. Above the ground floor, crews have built four towering walls, almost to the planned height of the building, and begun assembling formwork to pour the floor of the actual ballroom.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            Construction has progressed at a rapid pace, but the new structure isn\u2019t close to being occupiable.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            As the scope of the project has evolved, so has the price tag. The ballroom was initially introduced at \u201capproximately $200 million,\u201d with Trump emphasizing it would be privately paid for as the cost ticked up to $300 and then $400 million.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            Then this spring, Senate Republicans requested $1 billion that would go, in part, toward security related to the project, although that effort ultimately failed, with some in Trump\u2019s own party worried about the optics of funding a ballroom while Americans are struggling. The funding picture became more complicated when a project summary, obtained by the Washington Post in June, estimated its price at $600 million, more than half of which would come from taxpayers.\n    <\/p>\n<h2>\n        What happens next\n<\/h2>\n<p>\n            The crux of the legal challenge isn\u2019t the 90,000-square-foot structure, its placement atop the South Lawn or even the 2025 demolition of the historic East Wing. Instead, it\u2019s the processes Trump ignored along the way: bypassing congressional approval and breaking ground before required reviews and assessments were completed.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            The president maintains the project isn\u2019t subject to any oversight. But it\u2019s become mired in a complicated legal battle without a clear resolution ahead.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            This state of uncertainty, Werkheiser told CNN, \u201cillustrates that the morass he\u2019s gotten himself into with all these projects. It\u2019s not that he can\u2019t do them. It\u2019s just that he refuses to do them legally, and that makes it that much more difficult for him to execute them than they would be if he just followed the rules in the first place.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            On Friday, the appeals court said Trump must stop construction until Congress approves the project, but the judges paused their ruling for two weeks so the administration could have a chance to appeal to the Supreme Court \u2014 which Trump vowed to do \u201cimmediately.\u201d Once that request is in, the justices will have to decide whether they will let the lower-court ruling take effect for now.\n    <\/p><p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=8924\">Joe Biden\u2019s prostate cancer getting worse, Hunter Biden says<\/a><\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-medium_large\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Construction continues on the White House helipad, left, and ballroom, right, on August 7, in Washington.\" class=\"wp-image-8944\" height=\"512\" src=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/95f57b61774c40915c85c8f523997717.jpg\" width=\"768\" srcset=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/95f57b61774c40915c85c8f523997717.jpg 768w, https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/95f57b61774c40915c85c8f523997717-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<span>Construction continues on the White House helipad, left, and ballroom, right, on August 7, in Washington.<\/span>\n<\/div>\n<figcaption>Allison Robbert\/AP<\/figcaption>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n            Separately, the Supreme Court will also have to decide whether it will review the lower-court ruling against the project at all. Should the justices take up the case, recent divisions within the court\u2019s conservative supermajority suggest that a win for Trump isn\u2019t guaranteed.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            Some White House officials have questioned what will happen if the Supreme Court declines to take up the case, but the overall sentiment from top legal advisers is that the administration is well-positioned to win the case and it\u2019s not time to be concerned yet, according to a person familiar with the matter.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            If Trump secures a victory, construction could continue on a project whose completion he\u2019s estimated by summer 2028, a few months before the end of his second term.\n    <\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n            It\u2019s also possible that the court finds Trump must secure congressional approval before the project can resume, which would set up a major political test for the president\u2019s party. Approval would become especially unlikely if Democrats gain power of either chamber in the November midterms.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            And public opinion isn\u2019t on the president\u2019s side: In a recent CNN poll, 58% of Americans said they were dissatisfied or angry about Trump\u2019s projects around DC, like the ballroom and renovations at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            Trump began messaging the ballroom as a national security necessity in late February. He zeroed in on that message after Friday\u2019s ruling, saying it\u2019s \u201cbeing built for the protection of our Country and, additionally, all future Presidents\u201d and highlighting some of the features of the underground bunker, including bomb shelters, medical facilities and top-secret military facilities.\n    <\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-medium_large\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A model of the White House and proposed ballroom is displayed during a ballroom fundraising dinner with President Donald Trump in the East Room on October 15, 2025.\" class=\"wp-image-8945\" height=\"482\" src=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/108fbb0a362294aca2ac7e01a1035707.jpg\" width=\"768\" srcset=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/108fbb0a362294aca2ac7e01a1035707.jpg 768w, https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/108fbb0a362294aca2ac7e01a1035707-300x188.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<span>A model of the White House and proposed ballroom is displayed during a ballroom fundraising dinner with President Donald Trump in the East Room on October 15, 2025.<\/span>\n<\/div>\n<figcaption>Kevin Dietsch\/Getty Images<\/figcaption>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n            But the appeals court said Trump could continue work on the below-ground complex even while construction of the above-ground ballroom is paused, with the judges noting that the president could, for example, \u201cput a fully protective covering over the underground construction and other exposed portions of the construction site\u201d to ensure the bunker isn\u2019t unprotected.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            Experts suggested to CNN that even if ballroom construction is legally forced to come to a halt, work on the bunker could proceed to eliminate the national security threat Trump has warned exists and also shore up the hole from any health and safety hazards.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            \u201cHypothetically, if you stop construction now, you could redesign this and have an underground facility and reconstruct the East Wing on top of it and just close off the site. There are other alternatives beyond completing the ballroom,\u201d said Bryan Clark Green, an architectural historian who previously served on the National Capital Planning Commission, one of the review boards that approved the ballroom in April after being stacked with Trump loyalists.\n    <\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-medium_large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"President Donald Trump views construction of his White House ballroom during a meeting with oil and gas executives in the East Room of the White House on January 9, in Washington, DC.\" class=\"wp-image-8946\" height=\"512\" src=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/3040bed60a4b1cfcad61fb3838e8d8e8-768x512.jpg\" width=\"768\" srcset=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/3040bed60a4b1cfcad61fb3838e8d8e8-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/3040bed60a4b1cfcad61fb3838e8d8e8-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/3040bed60a4b1cfcad61fb3838e8d8e8.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<span>President Donald Trump views construction of his White House ballroom during a meeting with oil and gas executives in the East Room of the White House on January 9, in Washington, DC.<\/span>\n<\/div>\n<figcaption>Alex Wong\/Getty Images<\/figcaption>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2>\n        Trump\u2019s construction obsession\n<\/h2>\n<p>\n            Trump, a former real estate developer, has made construction his second job as president \u2014 one he believes is part of his legacy, sources familiar with his thinking have said.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            \u201cThe thing I do best in life is build,\u201d he told reporters during a May field trip to observe the ballroom construction.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            The president lashed out at the appeals court repeatedly on Friday, underscoring the personal stakes as he cast the ruling as \u201ca National Disgrace\u201d and \u201chorrendous, politically motivated, and unlawful.\u201d\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            But in Friday\u2019s majority opinion, DC Circuit Court Judges Patricia Millett, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, and Brad Garcia, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, placed the blame squarely on Trump.\n    <\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-medium_large\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Construction equipment on the South Lawn of the White House on July 14, where President Donald Trump is building a helipad.\" class=\"wp-image-8947\" height=\"512\" src=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/359438f8483a4a7f739f7f577bb1bf5c.jpg\" width=\"768\" srcset=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/359438f8483a4a7f739f7f577bb1bf5c.jpg 768w, https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/359438f8483a4a7f739f7f577bb1bf5c-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<span>Construction equipment on the South Lawn of the White House on July 14, where President Donald Trump is building a helipad.<\/span>\n<\/div>\n<figcaption>Daniel Heuer\/Bloomberg\/Getty Images<\/figcaption>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n            \u201cAny risk caused by the construction project and its multi-year timetable is overwhelmingly a problem of the Defendants\u2019 own creation,\u201d they wrote.\n    <\/p>\n<p>\n            The judges continued: \u201cThe Defendants unilaterally and likely without lawful authority destroyed a large portion of the White House structure and dug an open pit in its place. Then, after commencing a lengthy construction project, they publicly announced to the world the vulnerabilities that self-chosen endeavor has created.\u201d\n    <\/p><p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=8922\">Trump\u2019s top general is \u2018looking for an off-ramp\u2019 from Iran war as US military options remain limited, sources say<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>President Donald Trump has dug himself a hole.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8933,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8948","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>A concrete frame and four towering walls: How Trump\u2019s ballroom, blocked by appeals court, has taken shape - 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