ACECO Demolition , The Firm in charge of White House East wing Demolition Files Emergency Motion Against the White House and Donald Trump After Trump Requested a Late-Night Expansion of the North Portico—Supreme Court Quickly Intervenes.

Breaking: ACECO Demolition Firm Files Emergency Motion Against the White House After Trump Requests Late-Night Expansion of the North Portico—Supreme Court Quickly Intervenes

Washington, D.C. – November 20, 2025 – In a stunning escalation of the ongoing controversy surrounding President Donald Trump’s ambitious White House renovation project, ACECO LLC, the Maryland-based demolition contractor at the center of the East Wing teardown, has filed an emergency motion in federal court. The filing accuses the White House of breach of contract and seeks an immediate halt to any further work, including a surprise late-night request from Trump to expand the historic North Portico. Just hours later, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a rare emergency injunction, freezing all related activities and thrusting the dispute into the highest echelons of American jurisprudence.

The motion, docketed late Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, marks a dramatic turn for ACECO, a Silver Spring firm with nearly 90 years of experience in complex demolitions. What began as a high-profile gig—razing the East Wing to make way for a lavish 90,000-square-foot ballroom—has devolved into a legal quagmire, with the company alleging that the administration’s demands have exposed them to untenable risks and financial liabilities.

The Late-Night Curveball: Trump’s North Portico Expansion Request

Sources close to the project, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of ongoing negotiations, revealed that the flashpoint occurred around 11 p.m. on November 19. Trump, reportedly inspired by a late-evening viewing of architectural renderings in the Oval Office, issued a verbal directive to White House facilities staff: expand the iconic North Portico—the neoclassical entrance synonymous with presidential addresses and state arrivals—by an additional 20 feet to “better accommodate the grandeur of the new ballroom entrance.”

The North Portico, completed in 1829 under President John Quincy Adams, is a cornerstone of the White House’s architectural heritage, symbolizing continuity and national prestige. Its expansion would require not only structural modifications but also a fresh round of demolition and abatement work in an area previously untouched by the East Wing project. ACECO executives, already battered by weeks of public backlash and congressional scrutiny, were blindsided. “This isn’t in the scope,” one ACECO insider told reporters outside the firm’s headquarters. “We’re demolition experts, not miracle workers. Pushing into the portico at this hour? It’s reckless.”

The request, formalized in an internal memo obtained by this outlet, cited “aesthetic synergies” with the ballroom but omitted any environmental impact assessments or preservation reviews—exemptions the administration has leaned on heavily throughout the project. Critics, including historians from the National Trust for Historic Preservation, decried it as “capricious tinkering with America’s front door,” warning of irreversible damage to the building’s symmetry and seismic vulnerabilities.

ACECO’s Breaking Point: From Backlash to Lawsuit

ACECO’s emergency motion paints a picture of a contractor pushed to the brink. Hired in early October for what was billed as a “non-intrusive” demolition funded entirely by private donors, the firm quickly found itself under siege. Demolition crews arrived on October 21, only to face immediate online fury: Google reviews plummeted from five stars to a low of 1.8, with users branding the company “traitors” and “desecrators of democracy.” The firm’s website went offline amid the deluge, and social media campaigns urged boycotts that threatened future contracts.

Compounding the reputational hit were safety concerns. Senator Edward Markey (D-Mass.) fired off letters demanding asbestos survey data, air monitoring results, and worker training records, citing ACECO’s revoked D.C. abatement license from 2022. Environmental experts, including pulmonologist Dr. Elena Flores, raised alarms about unmitigated debris potentially endangering D.C. residents for decades. The White House countered that all hazardous work was completed in September, but ACECO’s filing claims the portico expansion would necessitate reopening those sites, exposing crews to “unforeseen liabilities” without additional compensation.

At its core, the motion seeks $2.5 million in unpaid invoices for East Wing work—allegedly held up by donor funding delays—plus an injunction against the portico expansion. “We’ve bent over backward for this administration,” the filing states. “But late-night whims cannot override contracts or common sense.” Legal observers note that while the White House enjoys exemptions under the National Historic Preservation Act for the executive mansion, ACECO’s status as a private contractor could force a reckoning on procurement laws.

This isn’t ACECO’s first brush with controversy in the project. Fact-checkers have debunked viral claims of unpaid bills leading to congressional freezes on taxpayer funds, but the underlying tensions—private funding shortfalls and scope creep—persist. A separate lawsuit from a Virginia couple in late October failed to halt the East Wing demolition, highlighting the uphill battle for challengers.

Supreme Court Steps In: A Midnight Intervention

The Supreme Court’s response was as swift as it was unprecedented. At 2:17 a.m. ET on November 20, Chief Justice John Roberts, joined by Justices Clarence Thomas and Sonia Sotomayor in a rare shadow docket maneuver, granted ACECO’s motion for an emergency stay. The unsigned order halts “all demolition, construction, or modification activities on White House grounds pending expedited review,” citing “irreparable harm to national heritage and contractual equities.”

This intervention echoes a November 15 ruling where the Court paused East Wing work following a National Trust lawsuit alleging $10 billion in environmental and preservation violations. Trump’s White House fired back with a four-word retort—“This too shall pass”—delivered via Truth Social, followed by a formal statement accusing the Court of “activist overreach.” Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt doubled down: “The portico enhancement honors presidential tradition, not erodes it. We’ll fight this in chambers if needed.”

Legal scholars are abuzz. “The shadow docket isn’t meant for contractor spats,” said Georgetown Law professor Joan Larsen. “But when it involves the people’s house, the Court can’t look away.” The stay buys time for oral arguments, potentially scheduled for December, where preservationists and historians may join as amici curiae.

Broader Implications: A Presidency Under the Wrecking Ball?

Trump’s ballroom vision—a $300 million opus blending gold-leaf opulence with “MAGA resilience”—promised to rival Versailles without taxpayer dime. Yet, as private pledges falter and lawsuits mount, whispers of supplemental funding requests have surfaced, irking fiscal hawks on Capitol Hill. Democrats like Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) demand full transparency, while even some Republicans question the optics of “Trump’s Taj Mahal” amid economic headwinds.

For ACECO, the win is bittersweet. “We’re not villains; we’re professionals caught in a storm,” CEO Maria Gonzalez said in a brief statement. The firm, which has completed over 3,500 projects, now faces a PR nightmare that could scar its legacy.

As dawn breaks over Pennsylvania Avenue, the North Portico stands untouched—for now. But in Washington, where power and precedent collide, today’s injunction may be just the first swing of a larger gavel. The Supreme Court’s full review could redefine executive leeway over historic sites, forcing a debate: Does the people’s house belong to one man, or to the ages?