The U.S. Supreme Court temporarily halted a lower‑court injunction that blocked President Trump’s White House ballroom construction on Friday.
Supreme Court Stays D.C. Injunction on White House Ballroom
Chief Justice John Roberts issued a stay on the injunction issued earlier this year by D.C. District Court Senior Judge Richard Leon, who had halted the above‑ground construction of the privately funded ballroom. The stay pauses the construction while the Court reviews the case.
The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals declined to lift the injunction in a 2‑1 vote earlier this month, prompting the Trump administration to appeal to the Supreme Court on Monday. The panel’s decision kept the injunction in place.
The stay will remain in effect until the Court decides whether to hear the administration’s request to overturn Leon’s order, which was set to take effect at midnight unless blocked. The order provides additional time for legal arguments.
The administration argued that Leon’s ruling is “unlawful” and would improperly give a single district judge authority over construction needed to protect the President, his family, staff, and visiting dignitaries. It claims the judge overstepped his constitutional role.
The filing cited multiple recent threats against President Trump, including an assassination attempt at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner and a gunman firing at the White House entrance. It also referenced a drone‑bomb plot at the UFC Freedom 250 event, a planned missile strike on Air Force One, and two sniper attacks—one at Mar‑a‑Lago and another in Butler, Pennsylvania.
The filing also claimed the National Trust for Historic Preservation lacked standing to sue, calling the district court’s reasoning “glaring.” The administration said the group had no legal right to block the project.
Shawn Fleetwood, a staff writer for The Federalist and University of Mary Washington graduate, received the 2025 Dao Prize for Investigative Journalism and has contributed to RealClearPolitics and RealClearHealth. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood.
