{"id":33674,"date":"2026-08-09T02:03:10","date_gmt":"2026-08-08T21:03:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=33674"},"modified":"2026-08-09T02:03:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T21:03:10","slug":"trumps-white-house-ballroom-case-heads-to-supreme-court-on-standing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=33674","title":{"rendered":"Trump&#8217;s White House ballroom case heads to Supreme Court on standing"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div id=\"beyondwords-wrapper\" data-layout-index=\"5\" class=\"beyondwords-wrapper\">\n<p><span class=\"label-bg\">NEW<\/span>You can now listen to Fox News articles!\n  <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\" class=\"speakable\">President Donald Trump could win the legal fight over his planned White House ballroom, say two legal experts who believe the U.S. the Supreme Court could end the case without weighing in on the underlying constitutional issue.<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\" class=\"speakable\">In a lengthy social media post Friday, Trump vowed to take the fight over his White House ballroom to the <a data-omtr-intcmp=\"fnc_politics_article_main-content_article-body_6_36893\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/politics\/judiciary\/supreme-court\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Supreme Court<\/a> after the D.C. Circuit upheld a lower court order blocking above-ground construction. In a 2-1 decision, the appeals court ruled that the project cannot move forward without Congressional approval.<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">Trump pointed to the dissent written by Judge Neomi Rao, appointed by Trump in his first term, as grounds for appealing the decision to Supreme Court. Rao argued that the plantiffs, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, lack legal <a data-omtr-intcmp=\"fnc_politics_article_main-content_article-body_6_36894\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/politics\/executive\/law\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">standing<\/a> in the case.<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">The National Trust for Historic Preservation built its case for legal standing around Alison Hoagland, a member who lives near the White House and regularly visits President\u2019s Park. Hoagland said she visits the area about once a month and argued that the proposed ballroom\u2019s size and design would diminish her enjoyment of the area by overshadowing the White House and weakening its aesthetic.<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\"><a data-omtr-intcmp=\"fnc_politics_article_main-content_article-body_6_36895\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/trump-white-house-ballroom-ruling-jeopardizes-lives-future-presidents-vows-supreme-court-appeal\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>TRUMP SAYS WHITE HOUSE BALLROOM RULING JEOPARDIZES LIVES OF FUTURE PRESIDENTS, VOWS SUPREME COURT APPEAL<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<div data-layout-index=\"5\" class=\"image-ct inline\">\n<div class=\"m\"><picture><source media=\"(max-width: 767px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/343\/192\/cba47eeb-trump-ballroom-construction.jpeg?ve=1&amp;tl=1, https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/686\/384\/cba47eeb-trump-ballroom-construction.jpeg?ve=1&amp;tl=1 2x\" height=\"192\" width=\"343\"><source media=\"(min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1023px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/672\/378\/cba47eeb-trump-ballroom-construction.jpeg?ve=1&amp;tl=1, https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1344\/756\/cba47eeb-trump-ballroom-construction.jpeg?ve=1&amp;tl=1 2x\" height=\"378\" width=\"672\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1200\/675\/cba47eeb-trump-ballroom-construction.jpeg?ve=1&amp;tl=1\" alt=\"trump-ballroom-construction.jpg\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\"\/><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n<div class=\"info\">\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p><span>President Donald Trump has overseen ongoing construction of the underground military fortress that is going to be below the $400 million privately funded East Wing ballroom.<\/span> <span>(Chip Somodevilla\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\"><strong>But according to Rao, the National Trust did not establish the kind of injury necessary to invoke the courts\u2019 authority to block the project.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">&#8220;The district court\u00a0elevated the aesthetic displeasure of a single passerby over the government\u2019s security interests in the ballroom and the security risks of leaving an open construction site at the President\u2019s home and office,&#8221; Rao wrote.<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">Former Justice Department attorney Abhishek Kambli agreed, telling Fox News Digital the National Trust could face a particularly difficult hurdle on <a data-omtr-intcmp=\"fnc_politics_article_main-content_article-body_6_36896\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/politics\/executive\/law\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">standing<\/a> at the Supreme Court. He noted that, while <a data-omtr-intcmp=\"fnc_politics_article_main-content_article-body_6_36897\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/us\/congress\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Congress<\/a> created the National Trust, the group still must show that its lawsuit is germaine to its interests.<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">&#8220;While they do have ownership of some properties, the President&#8217;s Park, where the White House East Ballroom is, is not one of them,&#8221; Kambli said. &#8220;And I think that&#8217;s going to be a very tough argument to sustain, especially with the Supreme Court, that&#8217;s more likely to agree with Rao than they are the [circuit court] majority, given the makeup of the Supreme Court, and the fact that the Supreme Court is very strict on standing.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\"><a data-omtr-intcmp=\"fnc_politics_article_main-content_article-body_6_36898\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/obama-judge-rules-effort-block-america-250-events-wh-lincoln-memorial\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>OBAMA JUDGE RULES ON EFFORT TO BLOCK AMERICA 250 EVENTS AT WH AND LINCOLN MEMORIAL<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<div data-layout-index=\"5\" class=\"image-ct inline\">\n<div class=\"m\"><picture><source media=\"(max-width: 767px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/343\/192\/donald-trump-white-house-ballroom-fox-news-001.jpeg?ve=1&amp;tl=1, https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/686\/384\/donald-trump-white-house-ballroom-fox-news-001.jpeg?ve=1&amp;tl=1 2x\" height=\"192\" width=\"343\"><source media=\"(min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1023px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/672\/378\/donald-trump-white-house-ballroom-fox-news-001.jpeg?ve=1&amp;tl=1, https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1344\/756\/donald-trump-white-house-ballroom-fox-news-001.jpeg?ve=1&amp;tl=1 2x\" height=\"378\" width=\"672\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1200\/675\/donald-trump-white-house-ballroom-fox-news-001.jpeg?ve=1&amp;tl=1\" alt=\"U.S. President Donald Trump holding a rendering of a proposed White House ballroom in the Oval Office\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\"\/><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n<div class=\"info\">\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p><span>President Donald Trump displays a rendering of his proposed $250 million White House ballroom as he meets with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 22, 2025.<\/span> <span>(Alex Wong\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">Kambli also suggested that the National Trust faces a strong hurdle in proving it has standing based on aesthetic injury because it would have to prove it actually uses the space where the ballroom is being built<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">.<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">.<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">.<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">&#8220;Normally, aesthetic standing requires that you intend to use it,&#8221; Kambli said. &#8220;So, for instance, if you&#8217;re planning to be visiting the East Ballroom \u2014 and even this is kind of a stretch \u2014 that&#8217;s one thing, but if you&#8217;re someone on the outside that just passes it by, that&#8217;s a little tougher.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">A similar standing issue surfaced earlier in July when U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta, an Obama-appointed judge, rejected a lawsuit seeking to block the <a data-omtr-intcmp=\"fnc_politics_article_main-content_article-body_6_36899\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/media\/trumps-bold-prediction-historic-ufc-white-house-fight-revealed-new-fox-nation-documentary\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">America 250 UFC event<\/a> at the White House. He ruled that the plaintiffs had not met the standard of aesthetic harm to establish standing.<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">Hans von Spakovsky, a senior legal fellow at Advancing American Freedom, said he expects Trump to prevail on appeal as well, based on the standing issue.<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">&#8220;Under <a data-omtr-intcmp=\"fnc_politics_article_main-content_article-body_6_36900\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/politics\/judiciary\/precedents\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Supreme Court precedent<\/a>, you cannot bring a claim, you cannot bring a lawsuit, until and unless you can demonstrate a concrete, actual injury,&#8221; Spakovsky told Fox News Digital. &#8220;The idea that a passerby, who claims she will be aesthetically injured because of what she sees at the White House, has an actual injury is absurd, and obviously, and clearly defies that precedent.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">If the Supreme Court takes the case, it could resolve it without deciding whether the administration had the legal authority to build the ballroom in the first place.<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\"><a data-omtr-intcmp=\"fnc_politics_article_main-content_article-body_6_36901\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/trump-warns-judge-sacrificing-national-security-blocking-white-house-ballroom-drone-base\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>TRUMP WARNS JUDGE AGAINST SACRIFICING NATIONAL SECURITY BY BLOCKING WHITE HOUSE BALLROOM, DRONE BASE<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<div data-layout-index=\"5\" class=\"image-ct inline\">\n<div class=\"m\"><picture><source media=\"(max-width: 767px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/343\/192\/donald-trump-ballroom.jpg?ve=1&amp;tl=1, https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/686\/384\/donald-trump-ballroom.jpg?ve=1&amp;tl=1 2x\" height=\"192\" width=\"343\"><source media=\"(min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1023px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/672\/378\/donald-trump-ballroom.jpg?ve=1&amp;tl=1, https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1344\/756\/donald-trump-ballroom.jpg?ve=1&amp;tl=1 2x\" height=\"378\" width=\"672\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1200\/675\/donald-trump-ballroom.jpg?ve=1&amp;tl=1\" alt=\"President Donald Trump displays architectural design boards for a proposed White House ballroom during a public appearance.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\"\/><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n<div class=\"info\">\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p><span>President Donald Trump holds design for a proposed White House ballroom while speaking to reporters.<\/span> <span>(Aaron Schwartz\/CNP\/Bloomberg)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">&#8220;The Supreme Court won\u2019t rule on the substantive issue if it can dismiss the case based on a lack of standing by the plaintiffs,&#8221; von Spakovsky said. &#8220;I also don\u2019t know of anyone else who could establish standing to bring a lawsuit. Perhaps Congress could collectively, but the chances of that happening are very slim given the partisan divides in both the House and Senate.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">The National Trust argued in its lawsuit that federal law requires Congress to approve <a data-omtr-intcmp=\"fnc_politics_article_main-content_article-body_6_36902\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/appeals-court-lets-trump-resume-white-house-ballroom-construction-seeks-lower-court-clarity\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">new construction on federal property<\/a> in Washington, D.C., while the administration says existing law already gives the president authority to make alterations and improvements to federal property, including the White House.<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">Abhishek agreed with Rao\u2019s reasoning that the terms &#8220;alteration&#8221; and &#8220;improvement&#8221; should be understood in their ordinary real-property sense.<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">&#8220;For instance, if I have an extension to my house, it doesn&#8217;t become a new house,&#8221; Abhishek said. &#8220;It&#8217;s the same house, but that&#8217;s an improvement done on the house. Or if I tear down some walls and then just create an open living space in my like between my living room and my kitchen, that&#8217;s also not a new house at that point.<\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\"><a href=\"https:\/\/foxnews.onelink.me\/xLDS?pid=AppArticleLink&amp;af_dp=foxnewsaf%3A%2F%2F&amp;af_web_dp=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.foxnews.com%2Fapps-products\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p data-layout-index=\"5\">&#8220;It&#8217;s the same house, but there was an alteration or an improvement done, so if you&#8217;re using real property terms, then it&#8217;s pretty clear how how the statutory authority would make sense,&#8221; Abhishek continued.<\/p>\n<p> <!----> <!----> <\/p>\n<div class=\"article-meta\">\n<div class=\"author-bio\">\n<p>Elaine Mallon is a writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business covering national politics.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! President Donald Trump could win the legal fight over his planned White House ballroom, say two legal experts who believe the U.S. the Supreme Court could end the case without weighing in on the underlying constitutional issue. In a lengthy social media post Friday, Trump vowed to&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":33675,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/donald-trump-ballroom.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33674","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-political-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33674","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=33674"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33674\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/33675"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=33674"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=33674"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=33674"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}