President Donald Trump's administration is asking the Supreme Court to allow construction to continue on the White House's $400 million security complex, warning that halting the project would endanger the president as a lower-court deadline looms.
President Donald Trump is taking the fight over his White House security complex straight to the Supreme Court, asking the justices to keep construction moving while the legal battle plays out. The emergency appeal comes as a lower-court deadline looms that would force crews to halt above-ground work on the $400 million project, which the administration says is essential to protecting the president and future commanders in chief.
The case marks the first time the dispute has reached the high court, and the justices could act within days. The outcome will help define how much authority the president holds over the White House grounds -- and whether activist courts can stop security upgrades that the administration considers urgent.
Solicitor General D. John Sauer filed the emergency application Friday, one week after a divided panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled that the project could not continue without congressional approval. The appeals court gave the administration until Aug. 21 to halt above-ground construction, and the administration wants the Supreme Court to put that order on hold while it prepares a full appeal.
Chief Justice John Roberts, who handles emergency matters from Washington, has ordered the group challenging the project to respond by Aug. 18. The compressed timeline means the case could be resolved before the Aug. 21 deadline.
The project replacing the demolished East Wing is far more than a place for state dinners. Justice Department lawyers describe the facility as an "integrated military complex" that includes bomb shelters, medical facilities, protection from drones and missiles, and a rooftop "drone port," all tied together as one security unit.
"This case involves an extraordinary and unlawful injunction that will halt the ongoing construction of the integrated military complex, including a totally secure ballroom space, at the East Wing of the White House, which is vitally required by national security," the filing states.
Trump made the same point directly on Truth Social on Friday night, arguing that the upper ballroom and the underground military complex are "one highly integrated unit" that cannot function separately. He accused the preservation group that filed the lawsuit of revealing top military secrets and called its members "TREASONISTS." Construction on the project is roughly 65 percent complete.
The legal fight began in December, when the National Trust for Historic Preservation sued after the administration tore down the East Wing to make way for the new complex. In April, U.S. District Judge Richard Leon ordered a halt to above-ground construction but explicitly allowed underground security work -- including bunkers, military installations and medical facilities -- to continue.
The D.C. Circuit upheld that order in a 2-1 decision on Aug. 7. "Whether or not a massive ballroom should be constructed is for Congress to decide and is not a matter for Executive self-help," the panel majority wrote. The dissenting judge found that the preservation group had no legal right to sue in the first place.
Trump has called the ruling "horrendous," "politically motivated" and "unlawful," noting that the ballroom is designed to shield the military installation beneath it and protect the White House from sniper and drone threats.
The National Trust is urging the Supreme Court to reject the stay request, arguing that two courts have already weighed the administration's national security claims and found them insufficient to justify construction without congressional approval.
Congress is on recess and not expected to return before the end of the month, so legislative approval is off the table in the near term. That leaves the Supreme Court as the only path forward for the project.
With the response due Monday and the construction halt deadline set for Friday, the next few days will determine whether the security complex moves forward or sits unfinished. For the administration, the stakes go beyond a single building -- the case tests whether the president can act decisively to protect the White House without waiting on a gridlocked Congress.
President Donald Trump's administration is asking the Supreme Court to allow construction to continue on the White House's $400 million security complex, warning that halting the project would endanger the president as a lower-court deadline looms.
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