FIRST ON FOX — The latest lawsuit launched against the Trump administration seeks to recover more than $461 million after the State Department directed a longtime embassy builder to continue construction projects worldwide through the COVID-19 pandemic. Harbert International, which has built dozens of U.S. embassies and consulates over more than two decades, reached a $370 million settlement with the State Department to handle resulting claims — but the compnay claims the deal was reversed after current political leadership intervened. The builders are now seeking to recover lost funding through suing the Trump administration, and filed a lawsuit on Wednesday in the U.S.
Court of Federal Claims, Fox News Digital first learned. The complaint covers 12 diplomatic construction projects across four continents, including facilities in Turkey, Iraq, Thailand, Morocco, Mexico and Central America. The company alleges career State Department officials reached the $370 million agreement in September 2025, but the government paid just $501,636 before backing out.
Harbert claims political leadership "inserted themselves into the process after a settlement was reached" and that the decision to abandon it "came from the top." "We did not want to take this step. Government is an important partner, and we are proud of the work we do together to advance America's interests and protect Americans serving overseas," Charles Bohn, president of BL Harbert's International Group, said in a statement. TRUMP ADMINISTRATION UNCOVERS $1.2B IN SUSPECTED COVID CONTRACT FRAUD TIED TO BIDEN-ERA SPENDING "But we have a responsibility to our employees and to the future of that mission.
We kept our commitment under extraordinarily difficult conditions. We are asking the government to keep its commitment to us." Harbert is one of a small pool of U.S. contractors capable of building highly secure diplomatic facilities overseas — work that requires specialized security clearances, vetted workforces and the ability to manage complex construction and supply chains abroad. According to the company, some State Department embassy projects now draw just two or three qualified bidders.
The dispute dates back to the beginning of the pandemic, when Harbert was working on 17 embassy and consulate construction projects around the world, representing nearly two-thirds of State's embassy construction program at the time, according to the lawsuit. As countries shut down and global supply chains seized up in early 2020, Harbert says it sought guidance from State on whether to pause construction. The company argues the pandemic constituted an "excusable delay" under its contracts that would have allowed it to send personnel home, secure construction sites and resume work once conditions stabilized.
Instead, Harbert alleges State decided to keep its overseas construction program moving. The company says State directed it to remain ready to mobilize, continue procuring and shipping materials and work through the disruptions, while instructing Harbert to document the resulting costs and submit requests for reimbursement. In one March 2020 communication cited in the complaint, Harbert warned State that it could not afford to continue paying workers to remain on standby without assurances of reimbursement.
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