Trump administration says White House ballroom project must continue for national security reasons

The Trump administration said in a court filing Monday that the White House ballroom project must continue for national security reasons.It was the administration’s response to a lawsuit brought by the National Trust for Historic Preservation on Friday over the White House construction, which has included the demolition of the East Wing, The Associated Press reported.
The group is asking a federal court to pause the project until it has congressional approval and multiple independent reviews. The Trump administration argued in the filing that the preservation organization has no legal standing to sue.
U.S. Secret Service Deputy Director Matthew Quinn wrote in a declaration included in the filing that more work on the site is still needed to meet the agency’s “safety and security requirements.”
Quinn said that a temporary halt to construction would “consequently hamper” the Secret Service’s ability to fulfill its statutory obligations and its protective mission.
While the filing did not specify the national security concerns, the administration offered to share classified details with the judge in a private, in-person setting without the plaintiffs.
The East Wing had been above an emergency operations bunker for the president.
A federal court in Washington, D.C., had a hearing in the case scheduled for Tuesday.
According to court filings, final plans for the ballroom have not been finalized despite ongoing demolition.
The National Park Service’s liaison to the White House, John Stanwich, wrote that below-ground work on the site continues, and work on the foundations is set to begin in January. Construction above-ground “is not anticipated to begin until April 2026, at the earliest,” he wrote.
Department of Justice lawyers said in the court filing that the preservation group’s claims about the East Wing demolition are “moot” because the tear-down cannot be undone. They also argue that claims about future construction are “unripe” because the plans have not been finalized.
DOJ added that the group cannot establish “irreparable harm” because above-ground construction is not expected until the spring. The administration argues that the reviews with the National Capital Planning Commission and the Commission of Fine Arts, which are sought in the lawsuit, “will soon be underway without this Court’s involvement.”
The East Wing was torn down in October as part of President Trump’s plan to build an estimated $300 million, 90,000-square-foot ballroom with a capacity for about 1,000 people before the end of his term. He said that prior presidents had wanted an event space larger than the current White House rooms, and that the ballroom would end the practice of entertaining visiting foreign dignitaries in large, temporary pavilions outside.
The administration argued in its filing that the president has the authority to modify the White House, noting the extensive history of changes and additions to it since its construction more than 200 years ago.

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