Key keywords: Trump Mar-a-Lago ballroom construction, US appeals court ruling, congressional approval for former president property development, Mar-a-Lago conservation easement, federal historic preservation regulation, Palm Beach real estate legal dispute, 2024 Trump campaign fundraising A federal appeals court based in Atlanta issued a landmark unanimous 3-0 ruling on Wednesday, ordering former president Donald Trump to immediately halt all ongoing construction of a 15,000-square-foot private ballroom at his Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida, until he receives explicit written approval from the U.S. Congress. The decision overturns a 2023 lower court ruling that allowed the construction to move forward after Trump’s legal team argued that he held full private ownership rights to the entire Mar-a-Lago property and had no obligation to seek federal oversight for renovation projects. The ruling centers on a binding conservation easement Trump signed in 1985, when he donated partial development rights to the National Trust for Historic Preservation in exchange for more than $20 million in federal and state tax breaks. The terms of the easement explicitly state that any structural modifications to the property beyond routine maintenance, including new construction or large-scale renovations, require joint approval from both the National Park Service and the House Natural Resources Committee, the congressional body tasked with overseeing federally protected historic sites. Trump’s legal team had claimed that he fully revoked the easement in 2017 shortly after taking office, but the appeals court judges found no legal evidence to support that claim, noting that no federal agency or congressional body ever signed off on a revocation of the agreement. The planned ballroom was set to be the largest private event space at Mar-a-Lago, with capacity for up to 700 guests, and was widely expected to be a core asset for Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign, which has hosted hundreds of high-dollar fundraising dinners at the Palm Beach property since he launched his third presidential bid in late 2022. Trump campaign officials previously stated that the expanded space would allow them to raise an additional $30 million to $40 million in campaign contributions ahead of the November general election, by hosting larger donor events with fewer scheduling conflicts. In a statement released shortly after the ruling, a spokesperson for Trump’s legal team said that they plan to file an emergency appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court within the next 10 days, arguing that the appeals court’s decision is an “unprecedented partisan overreach” that violates Trump’s private property rights. Local Palm Beach residents, who filed the original lawsuit against the construction last year citing concerns about increased traffic congestion, noise pollution, and security disruptions from large-scale events at the property, praised the ruling as a “victory for local communities over private interests.” The court’s order requires all construction activity to cease by 5 p.m. local time on Friday, and imposes a $10,000 per day fine for any violations of the halt order.