Trump's White House ballroom construction draws lawsuit from preservationists

• Carol Quillen, the organization's president and CEO, said the National Trust was compelled to file the lawsuit because of its mandate of "protecting places where our history happened."

State of play: Construction work is underway after the East Wing was demolished in October.

• Trump's expansion project, which he's said will cost between $200 and $300 million, is for a 90,000-square-foot ballroom.

Driving the news: "No president is legally allowed to tear down portions of the White House without any review whatsoever — not President Trump, not President Biden, and not anyone else," the complaint said.

• "And no president is legally allowed to construct a ballroom on public property without giving the public the opportunity to weigh in."

The other side: "President Trump has full legal authority to modernize, renovate, and beautify the White House — just like all of his predecessors did," White House spokesperson Davis Ingle said.

Context: The trust, a privately funded nonprofit, was chartered by Congress in 1949.

Go depeer: White House construction site photos show rubble where East Wing once stood