Donald Trump has initiated large-scale changes to Washington, D.C., including tearing down the White House East Wing to build a massive ballroom that could cost $1 billion or more. The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool has been painted blue, and the Oval Office has been covered with golden decorative items. The Lincoln bathroom has been redone in marble, the Kennedy-era Rose Garden has been paved into a patio, and a White House walkway has been resurfaced with black granite sourced from Africa and carved in Italy. Federal buildings have also been updated with banners featuring the president’s image. Additional plans include a triumphal arch, a National Garden of American Heroes with amenities and statues, and a luxury redevelopment of a municipal golf course.
"Under Donald Trump, the nation's capital is getting a face-lift. The president has torn down the White House's decades-old East Wing to make room for a massive ballroom that could end up costing taxpayers $1 billion or more. He ordered the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool to be painted blue. He covered the Oval Office with golden tchotchkes, redid the Lincoln bathroom in marble, paved the Kennedy-era Rose Garden into a patio, and resurfaced a White House walkway with black granite sourced from Africa and carved in Italy (so much for America First)."
"He isn't done either. Trump also wants to build a triumphal arch between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery that would dwarf similar monuments in Paris and Rome. He has pledged to redevelop a swath of the National Mall into a "National Garden of American Heroes" that could reportedly feature dining facilities, an amphitheater, and hundreds of statues of famous Americans. On Thursday, his administration unveiled plans to transform one of the capital's unassuming municipal golf courses into a luxe, 18-hole expanse that could someday host major tournaments."
"In some cases, the attempts to remake the city in Trump's image have been literal; the neoclassical facades of the Justice Department and other federal buildings now feature giant banners of the president's scowling visage. The president's vision of a revamped Washington has inspired a steady stream of opprobrium from political opponents, experts, and aesthetes. Many of them note that Trump's design sensibilities would run roughshod over a capital city that was purposely engineered to embody democratic values."
#washington-dc-renovations #white-house-expansion #national-mall-monuments #political-symbolism #public-spending
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