WASHINGTON — Despite a Friday ruling by a federal appeals court blocking construction of his proposed $400 million ballroom, President Donald Trump remains adamant that the project must be built for the nation’s security.
Friday’s decision marks yet another roadblock in the administration’s efforts to construct the ballroom, which has faced legal challenges since it was proposed in July 2025.
In a post on social media, the president wrote that “the entire Complex is being built for the protection of our Country,” before promising to “immediately” appeal the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.
“This decision, made after much of the work has been done and paid for, is a National Security Threat at the highest level. It is also a National Disgrace,” the president later added.
The judges rejected the administration’s national security argument and said the president does not have the authority to make such major alterations to the White House without congressional approval.
“The bold assertion that the Executive can act with utter lawlessness, destroying treasured national landmarks and harming the interests of individuals, and that no court can stop it flouts our constitutional order,” Judges Patricia Millett and Bradley Garcia wrote in their opinion.
District Court of Appeals Judge Neomi Rao criticized the ruling in her dissent.
“The government should not be forced to rely on the district court’s architectural approval to secure the President’s home and office,” she wrote.
The district court judge who originally blocked the construction of the ballroom modified his injunction in April to allow work related to security to proceed, while the ballroom-related construction was halted.
As the administration doubles down on the ballroom’s necessity, here’s a look at what the president has said about its national security features.
What’s inside?
The president publicly shared a wide array of features he intends to include in the project’s final form in a social media post Friday.
Trump said the 90,000 square foot building would include “Bomb Shelters, State of the Art Hospital and Medical Facilities, Protective Partitioning, Top Secret Military Facilities, 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.”
The president has also said a drone port will be put on the roof, posting AI-generated images on social media of armed guards, military vehicles and a fleet of drones atop the ballroom.
“It is all tied together as one big, expensive, and very complex unit, which is vital for National Security and Military Operations of the United States of America!” the president wrote.
Underground work on strictly security-related features, like the “top secret military facilities” or the “bomb shelters” referenced in Trump’s post, is allowed to continue.
Friday’s ruling will not take effect for two weeks. Trump is expected to appeal the case.
Even if the Supreme Court does not side with Trump, the current legal ruling allows “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.”
Following gunshots at the White House Correspondents Dinner in April, Trump spoke to reporters, arguing that the ballroom must be built to protect future presidents at similar events.
In Trump’s speech at the rescheduled WHCA event, he argued that the building’s security features are “what you need,” even offering the ballroom for future correspondents dinners.
“I predict that you’re going to end up using it, and a lot of people are going to end up using it. They’re going to be as safe as you can possibly be,” Trump told the room of reporters.
In Judge Rao’s dissent on Friday’s ruling, she argued concerns of national security “were unfortunately confirmed” by the shooting.
What’s next?
Trump has promised a swift challenge to Friday’s ruling, but it is unclear whether the Supreme Court will side with the administration.
Judges Millett and Garcia argued in their opinion that national security concerns are not an “automatic get-out-of-the-law-free card,” and should not force the courts to “stand by while the Executive acts without authority.”
The pair ruled that Congress must be the deciding body for any major changes to the White House.
“Each President is a temporary tenant, not the owner, of the White House and its Executive Residence. The President has no-and claims no-constitutionally assigned authority over that property,” they wrote.
“Whether or not a massive ballroom should be constructed is for Congress to decide and is not a matter for Executive self-help,” they added.
Trump, in a separate post, rebuked this argument.
“We are not tenants, who pay rent and do all other things that a tenant must do, we are PRESIDENTS, elected by the people of the United States of America, and have many rights, including the right to fix, renovate, secure, protect, and beautify the White House grounds, which has been built and rebuilt, renovated and re-renovated, repaired and, simply, MADE BETTER, many times since 1792, and never needing the permission of Congress, or anyone else, to do so,” Trump wrote.
Regardless, work will continue on the underground security features of the ballroom project while construction of the main building is battled over in court.
ABC News’ Peter Charalambous, Nicholas Kerr and Emily Chang contributed to this report.
