Washington, DC – The National Trust for Historic Preservation, a Washington, DC-based nonprofit, has filed a lawsuit seeking to halt the administration of US President Donald Trump’s construction of a sprawling ballroom connected to the east wing of the White House.

The lawsuit filed on Friday targets one of Trump’s signature initiatives: a 90,000-square-foot (27,432-square-metre) addition to the seat of the US executive branch.

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Preservationists have previously criticised the transformative project for altering the character of the iconic building and for the Trump administration’s failure to follow the proper review process. However, the lawsuit on Friday is the first formal effort to halt construction.

“The White House is arguably the most evocative building in our country and a globally recognised symbol of our powerful American ideals,” Carol Quillen, the president of the organisation, said in a statement.

“As the organisation charged with protecting places where our history happened, the National Trust was compelled to file this case,” she said.

The filing charges that the Trump administration has violated several laws in beginning construction of the ballroom, including failing to file plans with the National Capital Planning Commission; failing to prepare an environmental assessment; and failing to obtain congressional approval for construction in a federal park.

It further states that the totality of the administration’s actions violates the property clause of the US Constitution, which “reserves to Congress the right to dispose of and make all rules regarding property belonging to the United States”.

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The organisation had previously sent a letter to the National Capital Planning Commission, the National Park Service, and the Commission of Fine Arts calling for a pause in construction.

The Trump administration has not immediately responded to Friday’s lawsuit but has maintained that planning and construction of the ballroom have been conducted in compliance with the law.

In October, Trump aide Steven Cheung, in a post on X, accused the organisation of being “run by a bunch of loser Democrats and liberal donors who are playing political games”.

Presidential priority

Trump, a real estate magnate known for a personal taste that tends toward the garish and gilded, has championed the construction of a new ballroom.

The president began demolishing a portion of the White House’s east wing in October. He said the ballroom will seat nearly 1,000 people, up from the 650 seats the administration had previously announced.

The price has ballooned from $200m to $300m, although the administration has maintained that the funding is coming from private donors.

While Trump has sought to transform the powers of the executive office and reshape the wider US government, the construction would be the most lasting physical change in Washington, DC, since he took office.

Critics have said the ballroom would dwarf the White House’s current 55,000-square-foot (16,764-square-metre) footprint and disrupt the balance of the smaller east and west wings.

While presidents have made internal renovations and changes to the White House grounds, the building’s exterior has remained largely unchanged since its reconstruction in the early 1800s.