Filing: Completing Ballroom Is a National Security Issue

Construction on a White House ballroom must continue for reasons of national security, the Trump administration contended Monday in a court filing. The argument was made in response to a lawsuit filed on Friday by the National Trust for Historic Preservation asking a federal judge to halt the project until it goes through multiple independent reviews and wins approval from Congress, the AP reports. In its filing, the administration included a declaration from the deputy director of the Secret Service saying that more work on the site of the now-demolished White House East Wing is still needed to meet the agency's "safety and security requirements."

The government's response offers the most comprehensive look yet at the ballroom construction project, including a window into how it was so swiftly approved by the Trump administration bureaucracy and its expanding scope. The filings assert that final plans for the ballroom have yet to be completed despite the ongoing demolition and construction work. Below-grade demolition of the site continues, wrote John Stanwich, the Park Service's liaison to the White House, and work on the foundations is scheduled to begin in January. Above-grade construction "is not anticipated to begin until April 2026, at the earliest," he wrote.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation, a privately funded group, is asking the US District Court to block the addition until it goes through comprehensive design reviews, environmental assessments, public comments, and congressional debate and ratification. Trump had the East Wing torn down in October to make room for the estimated $300 million, 90,000-square-foot ballroom.

The project has prompted criticism based on historic preservation and architecture, but the lawsuit is the most tangible effort against the president's plans for an addition that itself would be nearly twice the size of the White House before the East Wing's demolition. A hearing in the case was scheduled Tuesday in federal court in Washington. The administration has offered to share classified details with the judge without the plaintiffs present.