Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Construction continues on a new helipad on the South Lawn of the White House and the East Wing ballroom on 24 August 2026 in Washington DC.
In a 5-4 ruling, the justices granted the Trump administration's emergency request, blocking lower court rulings that would have halted construction of an above-ground portion of the project.
But Chief Justice John Roberts, a conservative, sided with the three liberal justices to dissent, writing that "construction is likely unlawful" because Congress has not approved the project.
O National Trust for Historic Preservation entrou com a ação judicial, alegando que o presidente não detinha autoridade unilateral para prosseguir com a construção.
Legenda da figura, Assista: Trump lidera visita ao local de construção do heliponto da Casa Branca.
Trump demolished the historic East Wing of the executive residence last autumn to begin building the ballroom. The White House has said the project will be "substantially" finished by November and fully completed by August 2028.
Na sexta-feira, o Tribunal Supremo havia temporariamente permitido a construção do salão de baile de 90. 000 pés quadrados (8. 400 metros quadrados) para prosseguir enquanto os juízes consideravam a ação judicial que visava interrompê-la completamente.
In Monday's unsigned order, the five justices who cleared the way for construction said lower courts had "likely exceeded" their authority in blocking the ballroom.
While the majority did not decide on the legality of the East Wing project, they said the preservation group "lacks standing" to sue the government.
Eles decidiram que a administração Trump havia estabelecido que era provável que ela conseguisse argumentar que “suffer irreparable harm without a stay”.
Chief Justice Roberts wrote in dissent: "Today's decision is no victory for the separation of powers.
Reacting to the ruling, Trump posted that he was "pleased" the "baseless" lawsuit had failed to halt construction.
We are living in the Golden Age of America, and this Building will be one of the Greatest ever constructed in Washington, DC," he said.
Trump has long argued that the White House needs a larger events space, and more recently, that it was important for his security.
O presidente republicano enfatizou a necessidade do salão de baile após uma suposta tentativa de assassinato no jantar da Associação de Correspondentes da Casa Branca em abril.
Mas o National Trust for Historic Preservation argumentou que a construção estava causando danos irreversíveis a um marco histórico.
Its position stemmed from a declaration made by preservationist Alison Hoagland, who lives in Washington DC and serves on the trust's board of trustees.
Hoagland, who says she visits the neighbourhood once a month, asserted that she would "suffer both professional and personal injuries, including to my aesthetic, cultural and historical interests, if a ballroom of the proposed form and scale were constructed.
In the dissent, Roberts said the injuries claimed by Hoagland were sufficient to allow the lawsuit to go ahead.
O projeto do salão de baile, junto com o heliponto sendo construído no South Lawn, são apenas parte do esforço mais amplo do presidente para transformar a paisagem urbana de Washington.
His plans include the renovation of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool and a planned "Arc de Trump" larger than the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.
