The emergency application comes one week after an appeals court ordered construction to stop until Congress approved of it, upholding a ruling won by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which sued the administration last year.

In the latest filing, US Solicitor General D John Sauer asked that work be allowed to continue while the administration appealed the stop-work order, which he called “dangerous”.

Trump has long argued the White House lacked a large event space and that building one was vital for national security.

Last week’s appeals court decision does not take effect until 21 August, when ballroom construction will have to cease unless the Supreme Court grants the emergency application.