President Donald Trump has railed against a federal judge's decision that continues to block above-ground construction of a $400 million White House ballroom. The decision on Thursday allows only below-ground work on a bunker and other "national security facilities" at the site. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon in Washington issued his latest ruling Thursday in a lawsuit over the ballroom project several days after an appeals court instructed him to reconsider the possible national security implications of stopping construction. Leon said he is ordering a stop only to the above-ground construction of the planned ballroom, apart from any work needed to cover or secure that part of the project.
A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to suspend construction of a $400 million ballroom after it demolished the East Wing of the White House. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon in Washington granted a preservationist group's request for a preliminary injunction that temporarily halts President Donald Trump's White House ballroom project. Leon wrote that the president is a steward of the White House, not its owner. The National Trust for Historic Preservation sued to obtain an order pausing the ballroom project until it undergoes multiple independent reviews and receives congressional approval.