White House Ballroom FOIA Case

In October 2025, Public Citizen submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the National Park Service, seeking the contract to construct a ballroom on the White House grounds. After the deadline for the National Park Service to respond to the request passed, we filed a lawsuit to compel the government to produce the requested records. In April 2026, after a court hearing, the government produced 14-page “Philanthropic Support Agreement” between the White House, the National Park Service and the non-profit Trust for the National Mall.

The Trump Administration’s failure to disclose this contract was flatly unlawful. The American people are entitled to transparency over this multi-million-dollar project, and this win gets us a bit closer to knowing the truth. Wendy Liu, Public Citizen Litigation Group Attorney