WASHINGTON, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday temporarily allowed the construction of a White House ballroom to continue.
Chief Justice John Roberts issued a temporary stay that freezes lower court rulings that would have required construction to stop, without addressing the legality of the project.
In court filings, the Trump administration said that as of Aug. 14, construction was 65 percent complete on the 400-million-U.S.-dollar, privately funded project. The filing also showed that a 250-person crew has been working 20 hours a day, seven days a week.
The Supreme Court's latest move came two weeks after a divided federal appeals court in Washington ruled on Aug. 7 that U.S. President Donald Trump has been unlawfully constructing the new ballroom at the White House.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit paused the ruling for 14 days to allow the administration to seek Supreme Court review.
The ruling, which sided with the National Trust for Historic Preservation, noted that over just three days in October 2025, "without undertaking promised consultations or obtaining Congress's permission," Trump bulldozed the entire East Wing in order to construct a massive, 90,000-square-foot ballroom paid for by private funds with "no congressional oversight."
Trump's proposed White House ballroom expansion has been primarily backed by the White House and many congressional allies, but it has faced pushback and concern from several Republicans in Congress. ■
