A divided U.S. Supreme Court has allowed the White House to keep building a $400 million ballroom and related military complex while litigation continues, replacing a temporary order shortly before a court-ordered halt would have taken effect. In an apparent 5-4 per curiam ruling, Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett concluded the National Trust for Historic Preservation likely lacked standing, writing that mere offense, disagreement, or distaste is not a concrete injury and rejecting architectural historian Alison Hoagland’s claim that East Wing demolition and the 90,000-square-foot ballroom harmed her enjoyment of the building. The majority did not decide whether the project is lawful and cited administration arguments that the ballroom would help shield a planned underground military installation and provide a more secure venue than tents now in use. Chief Justice John Roberts, joined by Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson, filed a six-page dissent arguing the Trust had valid aesthetic standing under prior precedent, that the White House is not just any building, and that the project is likely unlawful without express congressional authority, including use of hundreds of millions of dollars in private donations to tear down the East Wing. Quoting Winston Churchill and Theodore Roosevelt on architecture and national memory, Roberts said the decision is no victory for separation of powers. President Donald Trump welcomed the outcome and said the complex would be completed in summer 2028; Trust CEO Brent Leggs said the group was disappointed but noted the merits remain unresolved. The case returns to lower courts as crews work 20 hours a day, with framework expected in November, much of the facade by April, and full completion slated for August 2028.