Headline: Engineering News Record, 12/23/2025
Bryan Gottlieb reports:
Public Citizen filed the lawsuit Dec. 22 in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, alleging that the White House and the U.S. Department of the Interior failed to respond to a Freedom of Information Act request seeking documents tied to the ballroom project, including records related to planning, approvals and contracting, according to the complaint and a Politico Pro Energy and Environment report.
“The White House has hidden the truth about how the Park Service is being used as a tool to facilitate Trump’s shady ballroom funding scheme,” said Jon Golinger, a democracy advocate with Public Citizen. “But the American people have the right to know who’s doing what to the People’s House and we are going to find the facts.”
The lawsuit does not seek to halt construction directly, but it targets documentation underlying the project, which involves demolition of the historic East Wing and construction of a roughly 90,000-sq-ft ballroom on federal property. While the project is privately funded, it is being built within the White House complex, raising questions about how federal oversight, disclosure requirements and preservation laws apply.
Related posts:
December 2025
New photos show ongoing demolition and site preparation at site of latest Trump vanity project. (12/10)
Quote from Shalom Baranes, Trump's new White House ballroom architect: "My work would be impossible without my fellow immigrants". (12/7)
White House ballroom price tag: $200 million. $300 million. $350 million. Do I hear $400 million? (12/7)
White House Ballroom correction: This is not construction; its demolition and site preparation. (12/4)
November 2025
White House Ballroom oversight gaps emerge: Let us count the ways (Part 1: National Capital Planning Commission). (11/18)
What did Donald Trump know about the demolition of the East Wing of White House and when did he know it? (11/2)
