Trump aims to leave a physical legacy in D.C., bulldozing norms along the way
President Trump has spent much of his second term trying to make his physical mark on Washington, D.C., earning — or perhaps awarding himself — the moniker of "builder-in-chief.
asserted
Trump → aim → chief
"
"The best thing I do in life is build," he told reporters in May.
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he → do → May
Trump tore down the East Wing of the White House to build an even bigger ballroom (and military complex underneath).
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Trump → tear → ballroom
He built a helipad on the South Lawn after separately paving over the Rose Garden.
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He → build → Garden
He had the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool repaved in "American flag blue," a project that was supposed to take two weeks but is still unfinished many months later, after a botched installation and several unfounded arrests.
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that → have → installation
He's had new statues installed and existing ones restored, including two equestrian statues glaringly gilded over the summer.
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ones → have → summer
He wants to build a sculpture garden of "national heroes" in West Potomac Park and overhaul the locally beloved East Potomac Golf Links, changing it from a municipal resource into a championship-level venue.
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He → want → venue
The list goes on.
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list → go → ?
Trump seeks to add his name to the Kennedy Center building, or else have it demolished altogether.
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it → seek → building
He's trying to fast-track a controversial 250-foot arch near Arlington National Cemetery, most recently rebranding it as a military complex — despite originally telling reporters it was intended to honor "me."
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it → try → me
"I have heard the president say: 'I am president because I am rich.
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I → hear → ?
I am a developer because I have exquisite taste,'" said Greg Werkheiser, whose law firm, Cultural Heritage Partners, is involved in several lawsuits against Trump's projects.
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firm → have → projects
"It would appear that much of his self-worth is tied to this mythology of Trump as a builder."
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much → appear → builder
White House spokesperson Davis Ingle told NPR in a statement that "President Trump can walk and chew gum at the same time," saying he is delivering on campaign policy promises while also "ensuring the People's House and our Nation's Capital will be properly glorified and remain in excellent condition for generations to come."
"Thanks to the Builder-in-Chief, no other president has done more to beautify our Nation's interior than President Trump," he added.
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he → tell → Trump
Trump's second-term projects have prompted lawsuits, protests and tens of thousands of public comments overwhelmingly in opposition.
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projects → prompt → opposition
While some of these undertakings are pegged to the country's 250th anniversary, critics have long accused the president of rushing to memorialize himself out of fear that no one else will.
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one → peg → fear
And Trump confirmed as much in a New York Magazine piece published earlier this month.
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Trump → confirm → piece
"Nobody will do it once I'm gone," said the 80-year-old, second-term president.
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president → do → it
"When I leave here, nobody will."
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nobody → leave → ?
Trump and those in his orbit maintain he is uniquely qualified to put his stamp on D.C. because of his decades-long career as a New York City real estate developer.
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he → maintain → developer
Then-White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News last year that "in large part, he was reelected ... because he is good at building things.
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he → tell → things
But people who worked with him at the time point out that his early-career building projects and strategies were fraught too, boosted by financial workarounds and plagued by lawsuits.
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projects → work → lawsuits
And, more broadly, historians and legal experts worry that Trump is setting a dangerous precedent by treating D.C. as his personal construction playground.
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Trump → worry → playground
"The worse his approval ratings, the economy and the war get, the more time he spends in the sandbox playing with America's historic sites as if they were his personal toys," Werkheiser said.
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Werkheiser → get → sites
Barbara Res, who served as head of construction for the Trump Organization in the 1980s, says Trump's efforts to cut corners with ambitious projects are not new, but take on a painful significance in a moment when he is "ripping through" the nation's capital.
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he → serve → capital
But he wasn't the king of the world; he wasn't the president," Res said.
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Res → say → world
"Now he has no regard for law … and he gets away with it."
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he → have → it
A history of disregard for historic preservation
Res, who left the Trump Organization in 1998, stressed that there is a big difference between a builder and a developer.
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who → leave → builder
Trump was the latter, overseeing big-picture decisions like hiring architects, engineers and contractors.
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Trump → oversee → architects
Even so, she said he often made demands about details that usually made the job harder, such as telling crews to reuse old HVAC equipment in new ductwork as a cost-cutting measure.
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job → say → measure
"His father was a builder in Brooklyn … and Donald seems to think that gives him credibility as a builder, 'cause he walked around with his father," she said.
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she → seem → father
"Maybe he does now, but when we were doing the work, he didn't really know much about construction."
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he → do → construction
Res is an outspoken Trump critic: in 2020, she published the book Tower of Lies: What My 18 Years of Working with Donald Trump Reveals About Him.
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Years → publish → Him
She concedes that "he did do good things" for real estate, but that was before he was president.
"
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he → concede → estate
The White House and the capital are not to his credit, so I don't think that would be part of his legacy," she said.
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she → think → legacy
Trump Tower was Trump's second major independent project, and his first built-from-scratch skyscraper.
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Tower → build → scratch
And it was marred by a historic preservation scandal before it even opened.
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it → mar → scandal
In 1979, Trump — then a budding developer in his early 30s — bought the flagship building of the Bonwit Teller luxury department on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue, with plans to tear it down and build Trump Tower in its place.
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Trump → bud → place
When she heard of Trump's plan to demolish the 1929 building, she jumped into action to save the historic artwork on its facade: two classical-style 15-feet-high limestone sculptures of nudes dancing with scarves, and a massive art deco decorative metal grille.
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she → hear → scarves
Hunter-Stiebel believed the sharp contrast of two different architectural styles — added to the same building in the span of a single year — would make for a great addition to the Met's collection.
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contrast → believe → collection
…and 56 more, not listed.
The Aporia
