President Donald Trump has given a significant amount of attention during his second term to the construction of a massive ballroom at the White House, but now, per a report from NBC News, a new lawsuit might see the project "immediately halted."
In order to make way for the ballroom, Trump directed that the entire East Wing of the White House, first built in 1902, be demolished. Images of the demolition being torn down sparked significant controversy about the destruction of a historic portion of the building, as well as attempts at legal pushback against the project.
On Friday morning, the nonprofit organization National Trust for Historic Preservation in the United States filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, arguing that Trump was not legally allowed to alter portions of the White House so abruptly and with no review process. The suit called for the continuing construction project to be halted by a federal judge until certain conditions are met.
“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 suit argued. “And no president is legally allowed to construct a ballroom on public property without giving the public the opportunity to weigh in."
"President Trump’s efforts to do so should be immediately halted, and work on the Ballroom Project 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.”
As part of the lawsuit, the trust's attorneys argued that the Trump administration must have presented plans for the ballroom to Congress, the National Capital Planning Commission and the Commission of Fine Arts for approval. Plans were not submitted to any of these entities before the demolition began.
By doing so, the administration is accused of "depriving the public of its right to be informed and its opportunity to comment" on the ballroom project.
"This public involvement, while important in all preservation matters, is particularly critical here, where the structure at issue is perhaps the most recognizable and historically significant building in the country," the lawsuit added.
Trump has most recently estimated that the construction of the ballroom will take a year and a half to complete. He has also claimed without evidence that previous administrations have wanted to add a White House ballroom for at least 150 years.