Trump asks Supreme Court to let White House resume ballroom construction during appeal

President Donald Trump is asking the Supreme Court to allow him to build a ballroom at the White House, citing previous threats to Trump’s life, national security needs and architectural values. The emergency request filed Friday comes after lower courts repeatedly ruled that Trump needed approval from Congress before moving forward with the $400 million project. The latest rebuke came last week, when an appeals court in Washington, DC, said the president lacked any authority to unilaterally pursue the planned ballroom and ordered him to stop work at the site of the former East Wing until lawmakers gave their blessing. But the court paused implementation of its decision for 14 days to give Trump time to appeal to the justices. In recent months, lower courts sifting through a litany of cases challenging his plans to remake Washington have looked skeptically at his arguments defending his approach or issued rulings frustrating his pursuits.

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