AN APPEALS COURT on Friday upheld a US judge’s order to halt construction on President Donald Trump’s prized White House ballroom, but issued a two-week delay to enforcement for a possible Supreme Court appeal.

The three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit ruled 2-1 to uphold the judge’s earlier order, which demanded a halt to most above-ground construction at the White House site but had been paused until the appellate court made its decision.

“We will be immediately appealing to the United States Supreme Court,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social, describing it as “a horrendous, politically motivated, and unlawful ruling” that goes against national security interests.

In June The Washington Post reported that the ballroom project is expected to cost as much as $600 million (or about €516 million), with more than half coming from taxpayers.

Trump had previously estimated the cost at $400 million (€344 million) and repeatedly insisted that private donors – including himself – would foot the bill for the new building, a centrepiece of his drive to put his stamp on the US capital.

But the Washington Post reported on Tuesday even higher costs, citing a copy of a detailed cost estimate prepared for the Trump administration by Clark Construction, the contractor hired to build the ballroom.

The project began last year when Trump, with little warning and without consulting Congress, tore down the entire historic East Wing of the White House.

When Trump first floated the idea of the ballroom he said it would cost $200 million (€173.28 million).

Democratic opponents of the president have pointed to the gilded ballroom and other costly renovation projects around the US capital as evidence that the billionaire leader is out of touch with everyday Americans.