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WASHINGTON (AP) -- A divided federal appeals court ruled Friday that President Donald Trump's administration must stop construction of the $400 million White House ballroom because Congress has not approved the project, a decision he blasted as "unjust" while vowing to appeal it to the nation's highest court.
Trump doesn't have the unilateral authority to build a 90,000-square-foot ballroom where the White House's East Wing stood before he ordered its demolition last fall, according to the decision by a three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
The Republican president said on social media that the administration will immediately appeal what he called an "unjust decision" to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Friday's ruling marked the second time this week that the Trump administration has made headlines for construction plans that have been called into question. An assessment by the National Park Service found that a 250-foot-tall triumphal arch that Trump has proposed building could compromise the historical significance of dozens of sites near its planned location on a traffic circle between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery.
In a 2-1 decision on the ballroom, the appeals court sided with historic preservationists who sued to stop construction of the massive structure, which has begun to rise above ground on the east side of the White House, according to the most recent aerial photos of the site. The court said it would stay its ruling for two weeks to give the administration time to appeal to the Supreme Court.
"Whether or not a massive ballroom should be constructed is for Congress to decide and is not a matter for Executive self-help," the court wrote.
"This holding has nothing at all to do with whether the proposed ballroom is desirable, or not, as a matter of policy. This ruling does not even necessarily mean that the Defendants may not ultimately construct the ballroom.
"What it does mean," the court continued, "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."
The president reacted to the ruling with a lengthy post on social media in which he quoted from a dissenting opinion issued by Judge Neomi Rao, whom he nominated. He also described the plans for the facility to include bomb shelters, a hospital and medical facilities, "Top Secret Military Facilities" and other security features.
"The Military and Secret Service are viewing this horrendous, politically motivated, and unlawful ruling as a National Security threat to our Nation in that the entire Complex is being built for the protection of our Country and, additionally, all future Presidents," Trump wrote.
After the lower court earlier this year ordered a halt to aboveground construction, the president argued that permission from Congress was unnecessary because public money was not being used to pay for it.
Trump has said he has raised hundreds of millions of dollars from corporations and wealthy people, including himself, to cover the construction costs.
But the Trump administration had requested $1 billion for the ballroom, which Congress refused in May. In June, Democrats warned that $350 million in funds from a tax cuts law appeared to have been redirected to the White House for security, including the ballroom.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation, the nonprofit organization that brought the lawsuit against the Trump administration, said Friday's decision affirmed "the American people's right to voice their opinions about the historic places they cherish," including the White House.