Ruling put on hold for two weeks, allowing administration to appeal to US supreme court

A US federal appeals court has ordered the Trump administration to halt construction of the US president’s $400m White House ballroom, in a fresh blow to the controversial project.

Donald Trump, who demolished the historic East Wing of the White House last year to make way for planned ballroom, has repeatedly touted it as “a gift” to the US people.

But in a major setback in a case testing ⁠his presidential authority, the Washington-based US ⁠court of ​appeals for the District of Columbia circuit upheld a preliminary injunction in a divided 2-1 order on Friday.

The appeals court put ⁠its ruling on hold for two weeks, allowing the administration to appeal to the ​US supreme court.

Explaining their majority decision, Judges Patricia Millet and Bradley Garcia wrote: “Each President is a temporary tenant, not the owner, of the White House and its Executive Residence.”

The judges also said it was for US Congress to determine whether the ballroom could ultimately be built. “Whether or not a massive ballroom should be constructed is for Congress to decide and is not a matter for Executive self-help,” they wrote.

“This holding has nothing at all to do with whether the proposed ballroom is desirable, or not, as a matter of policy,” the judges added. “This ruling does not even necessarily mean that the Defendants may not ultimately construct the ballroom.

“What it does mean is that the Defendants may not do so during the district court’s expeditious litigation without securing Congress’s authorization, as the constitution and laws require.”