Preservation group sues White House to stop ballroom construction

A leading national historic preservation group is suing President Donald Trump and several other government officials, seeking to stop the construction of Trump’s planned White House ballroom. 

The lawsuit, filed Friday in federal district court in D.C. by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, alleges that, at Trump’s direction, officials quickly bulldozed the East Wing in October without fulfilling federally mandated processes — including seeking congressional approval, conducting environmental studies and allowing for a public comment period — and that they are evading the same protocol in their construction of the ballroom. The filing alleges that federal officials are violating the Administrative Procedure Act, the National Environmental Policy Act and the separation of powers under the Constitution.

“No president is legally allowed to tear down portions of the White House without any review whatsoever — not President Trump, not President Biden, and not anyone else,” the lawsuit says. “And no president is legally allowed to construct a ballroom on public property without giving the public the opportunity to weigh in.” 

The lawsuit argues that construction of the ballroom “should be paused until the Defendants complete the required reviews — reviews that should have taken place before the Defendants demolished the East Wing, and before they began construction of the Ballroom — and secure the necessary approvals.”

The National Trust for Historic Preservation is a private nonprofit organization established by Congress in 1949 to oversee and promote the preservation of historic sites across the country.

Carol Quillen, president and CEO of the Trust, first raised concerns about the destruction of the East Wing — historically home to the offices of the first lady — in October. In a letter to the leaders of the National Park Service, the National Capital Planning Commission and the Commission of Fine Arts, she questioned the planned size of the ballroom — which, at an anticipated 90,000 square feet, would be nearly double the size of the rest of the White House — and requested the demolition be paused until the proper reviews had been fulfilled. According to the lawsuit filed Friday, Quillen never received a response to the letter. 

Quillen said in a statement that the Trust “was compelled to file this case.” 

“The White House is arguably the most evocative building in our country and a globally recognized symbol of our powerful American ideals,” Quillen said. 

White House officials have said the ballroom is needed to host larger events, and Trump has pledged that “it’ll be the most beautiful ballroom anywhere in the world I think.”

In addition to Trump, the lawsuit names as defendants Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, the leaders of the National Park Service and the General Services Administration, and the superintendent of the White House. 

“President Trump has full legal authority to modernize, renovate, and beautify the White House – just like all of his predecessors did,” White House spokesman Davis Ingle said in a statement to MS NOW. 

At the National Capital Planning Commission’s Dec. 4 meeting — the first since the demolition of the East Wing began — commission chairman Will Scharf said the administration plans to submit the ballroom designs later this month, saying it will then go through the NCPC’s review process at a “normal and deliberative pace.” A White House official told MS NOW the plans are still being worked on.

The White House has maintained that they are still in the demolition phase, despite a construction crane on site. 

News of the lawsuit was first reported by the Washington Post. 

Earlier this month, the White House hired another D.C.-based architect, Shalom Baranes, in the planning of the ballroom’s construction. A White House official said James McCrery — the first architect Trump hired for the project, who had been at odds with the president over the size of the ballroom — remains as a valuable consultant on the ballroom project. 

The cost of the ballroom has increased to $300 million as of October from its initial estimate of $200 million. Donors funding its construction include several companies and individuals, such as Amazon, Google, Lockheed Martin, Microsoft and Comcast, the parent company of NBCUniversal, which is in the process of spinning off MS NOW as part of a new company. The White House has declined to share the amount Comcast has donated.

In late October, Trump said $350 million has already been raised. He told reporters that any funds left over from the ballroom could be used to help build a grand arch he has proposed at the southern end of the Arlington Memorial Bridge, which crosses the Potomac River between Arlington National Cemetery and the Lincoln Memorial and has been dubbed the “Arc de Trump.”

Several preservationist groups — including the American Institute of Architects and the Heritage Conservation Committee for the Society of Architectural Historians — also asked the White House in recent months to ensure construction plans for the ballroom went through the required protocol, but the Friday lawsuit is the first legal action on the matter.