In 2025, Donald Trump replaced the Rose Garden lawn with concrete paving stones and planned a massive ballroom costing $300 million. While the ballroom was to be paid for by donors and the president, the impact of construction on the historic East Wing of the White House prompted criticism. In December, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, filed suit to stop the ballroom construction. In February 2026, the 90,000- square-foot ballroom, the cost of which had ballooned to $400 million, received approval from a fine arts panel filled with Trump appointees. However in March 2026, a federal judge ordered construction to be stopped on the grounds that the president did not have the authority for the project. After an appeals court upheld the federal judge’s ruling in August, Trump appealed to the Supreme Court. In August 2026, the court ruled in a 5-4 decision that the construction could continue.
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