Overview
- U.S. District Judge Richard Leon granted a preliminary injunction Tuesday, writing that no law gives the president the authority he claims and calling him the White House’s steward, not its owner.
- The order pauses most work for now, allows construction judged necessary for security, and remains on hold for 14 days to let the administration appeal, which it has moved to do.
- Trump ordered the East Wing torn down in October to clear space for a roughly 90,000‑square‑foot hall designed for about 1,000 guests, with costs now cited near $400 million and billed as privately funded.
- Preservationists and architects say the process was rushed through commissions stocked with Trump appointees and warn of design issues like oversized porticos, blocked interior views, and a north facade with false windows.
- The White House frames the project as a security upgrade, and Trump says the military is building a large complex beneath the site, while the court fight now centers on separation of powers and control over federal property and could advance on appeal.