September 1, 2026 | 07:41 am
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The US Supreme Court on Monday allowed US President Donald Trump's administration to continue with the $400 million (€345 million) White House ballroom construction project for now.
The ruling was backed by five of the court's six conservative justices who said that the plaintiffs in the case likely didn't have the legal right to challenge the case.
Court votes 5-4 to lift lower court's order
"This Court has not found standing in circumstances like these before. To the contrary, we have repeatedly held that mere offense, disagreement, or distaste does not qualify as a concrete and particularized injury," under the US Constitution, the five justices wrote in their ruling.
"Perhaps nearly any government action or project offends someone's sensibilities," they added.
Chief Justice John Roberts joined the court's three liberal-leaning justices in dissenting from the latest order, calling the construction “likely unlawful" because it hasn't been approved by Congress.
"Today’s decision is no victory for the separation of powers," Roberts wrote.
Trump welcomes Supreme Court ruling
"I am pleased to report that the United States Supreme Court has just ruled in favor of the Ballroom/Military Complex being built without any further contingency, doubt, or threat," Trump said on his Truth Social network.
"We are living in the Golden Age of America, and this Building will be one of the Greatest ever constructed in Washington, D.C." Trump said.
National Trust for Historic Preservation vs. Trump
The nonprofit National Trust for Historic Preservation first brought the matter after the East Wing was torn down and work began on a 90,000-square-foot (8,360-square-meter) ballroom in the the biggest structural change to the White House in over 70 years.
The Trump administration had asked the nation's highest court to intervene after federal courts determined that the project needed to be halted on the grounds of it not having congressional approval.
US Justice Department lawyers previously justified the need for a secure ballroom, pointing to the July 8 missile threat against Air Force One when Trump was flown out of Turkey aboard a secret flight and other recent assassination attempts.
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